Languor Over Vecordy, Emalia
by SapphicLove
Summary: Emily Fields and Talia Sandoval - Romance, Reality, Regret? Not AU. A will be in this story. This will be as realistic as possible, and will be in FPPOV as Emily and Talia. Rated M. Starts from 5x18. Has Emily come to terms with Maya's death yet, will she let go of Paige, and does she miss Alison? Is Talia right for Emily..? Emalia? Temily? Tamily? Review! ;) Enjoy the love! -Trev
1. Chapter 1

**Hi ****there! This is my first time writing fanfiction – though, I have wrote novelettes before. I am not sure where this story will go – I kind of just have an urge to write about these two. You can call me Trev.****Emily and Talia in my opinion are perfect for the show for where it's at now. I have always shipped Emison, and still have loved Paige (can't forget about Maya either) – and the break up with Paige broke my heart but things with her were awkward; Also what Paige has done in the past has made their relationship kind of feel like a heart that has bandages everywhere and won't heal properly.**

**One important thing to also talk about – Emaila is the ship name. Everyone is so confused. Emilila, Emilia, Emalily, no. It's Emalia. Haha.**

**Note: 1. This will start in episode the episode Oh,****_What Hard Luck Stories They All Hand Me_****\- around the time where Emily walks in while Talia is doing some paperwork, but I will make it my own story... 2. I have decided to write this in first person point of view and switch between POVs. People seem to like that. If people ask me to start writing in third person, I probably will, though. 3. This might be a little… different than other types of fanfics. I have a different approach of life, you could say. 4. This won't be an AU, but it may progress eventually into one.****_A_****will be in this story – if I decide to continue this fanfic. I will see how people like it**

**Bolded might be a text or something important. **

**Italic sentences/words are the characters thinking; they also might be a word that is accentuated or an onomatopoeia. The reason why I like doing their thoughts in italics it adds more depth to everything, I hope you like my style of writing.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Pretty Little Liars.**

Emily POV.

_This song is really getting on my nerves._I ponder as I clean up a table that has salt literally all over it. _Whyyyy… Just why people._ So many people have told Ezra to change the station, but he just won't. After walking to the kitchen to dump the dirty dishes in the sink to clean later, I then lean on the counter and sigh._Seriously, my mind is so messed up right now… When I get off work I really should try to have some alone time._ I take a few heavy breaths in and out to calm down a bit. I have been anxious all day; every little thing has seemed to stress me out. _Talia. I need to speak to Talia, I don't know what I am going to say, but I really need to try to talk with her. Holy shit, she is actually into me… I have been so freaking rude to her. If I was in her shoes right now… ergh. She's so beautiful and well put together. I want to know more about her. Ugh, I need to work… need to stop daydreaming before I start thinking about too many scenarios._

I look up at the clock and see that it is 5:02pm. _Okay, four hours until I am off. Let's get back to work, Emily._ Going to the front, my mind is completely set on just helping customers for the next thirty minutes; until I see Talia go into the back room with a bunch of papers in her hands. _Should I avoid her until later? Didn't Ezra say she called in sick? Should I ask her if she is feeling better? There isn't anybody that needs me right now, and I guess I should ask her when she is taking her break to find out when it would be a good idea to take mine. Okay._

I end up standing in the doorway of the back room for about twenty seconds, observing all the boxes of coffee beans, some unpacked furniture, and decoration that still needing to be put up. Talia is invested in whatever she is doing; probably trying to figure out an appetizer menu for an upcoming retirement party, for some doctor. _Don't over think this._Feeling awkward, I walk up beside her.

"Hello." I say, probably almost inaudible to her.

Talia, in a chipper tone replies. "Morning." I notice she doesn't look at me, or seem at all interested in having a conversation.

"Feeling better…?"

"Better?" She questions, still flipping through what looks like a recipe book, while writing down on little business-like cards.

"Ezra said you called in the other day."

"Oh, I wasn't sick; I just had to deal with some stuff."

"Oh…" Standing there, I grow more impatient and decide I would like to make this into a chat of purpose. "Talia." I state softly, but firm to get her attention. Talia drops her pen and pauses for a few seconds, then turns to me.

"How… are you?" She asks me blunt, though caringly; looking directly into my eyes.

I subconsciously smile. _I don't even know, I am so confused and now she took the conversation a different way. I like it. That actually kind of meant a lot that she just gave all her attention to me._ "Uhm…_"_I lean onto the table, "I guess I am doing okay, things are little cloudy, but today has so far not been that bad…" I look down at my feet and cross my arms. "I want to talk to you. Can we later? After work?"

Talia now has her head tilted and seems like she has a little blush going on. _Huh, whoa. Do I actually make her feel like that? Am I reading her right?_"I'd love to. Lets umm… I guess we are closing up together. Are you walking home? Oh and do you have an idea when you are going on your break?"

Still smiling, I reply "I'm walking home, and I actually came in here to ask you that. Sam is working until seven, so I will take my break in twenty minutes or so. Sound good?"

"Yeah. Okay, I will at 6:30 then… I can drive you home if you'd like?"

"Sure. That would be nice." I sort of give her a little look of relief with a nod and a smile, as I stand straight to leave. For a good reason, I have an urge to look at her eyes again as my left hand holds my right forearm. My head tilts slightly as I eye her intently._Wow._ I twist my body with a flirt while still giving her my attention and walk out; trying my best not to bite my tongue – a nervous habit in which I have no idea where I picked up from.

As soon as I walk out of the back room Sam comes up to me and asks me to help her with the cash register; gabbling on about how she accidently charged the customers debit card for ten coffees instead of one.

"So you hit the zero accidently, big deal. Don't void the receipt, just put it under the counter with a note, give the customer the cash of what it is worth and tell her sorry for the inconvenience, honest mistake."

"Okay, thanks, I didn't know if giving her cash was the option to go to or not. Now I know." Sam says smiling.

_Sam is doing a pretty great job for her fourth day. Never telling anyone here I accidently charged a woman thirty caramel lattes to her credit. Still can't believe we both didn't notice until the receipt printed, though she was old… people really shouldn't use the tap system._"I am going on break in a couple minutes… you all good or should I get Talia to come to the front and help? By the way you have something greenish on your glasses…"

"No I should be fine thanks," she then laughs stating, "yeah I know." While fixing her pony tail, she walks back over to the till.

_Alrighty._In this moment I decide Sam has a good persona and I like her attitude_. Her having freckles, black rimmed glasses, and long brown hair, probably adds to the way I see her personality. She is still really sweet and smart at only fifteen._

I decide to clean up the tables again and then clean the dishes. Soon enough it was 5:25 and I got ready to go on my thirty minute break.

Leisurely strolling outside I find Caleb doing some studying in the park. I chat with him for a few minutes. Caleb and I have never been super close. Though, he did share a vulnerable moment with me. As I walk away from him to go have dinner at The Grille. I get a few shivers running down my spine. _It has almost been a year since…I miss her. Maya… what would life be if she was still here? I miss a lot of people… It also really bugs me I don't know if Paige is okay in California. I just want to at least know she is okay, but… fucking hell. With all that has happened with A… I should go back to the lake house. Get some flowers or something. It's the only place that I really feel connected to Maya. Maya, if somehow there is another existence out there where you can read my thoughts, or something - hi, I miss you. Please be with me through my journey. I could use all the support I can get. The girls and I need to take down A…_I have been thinking about going to visit Alison in jail for a reasonable amount of time. I stop walking for a second and lean my back against a brick wall to gain some composure; placing my hands in my leather jacket pockets._Err..._ The thought of Alison bugs me. _She really did all this? How could she even be A anymore? Nothing makes sense… I need to visit her. I need to do a lot of things._ I look up at the clouds and sigh.

Suddenly I don't feel hungry, so I turn around and head back to work. Sometimes I can feel really sick and worked up when I think about Maya. Which is every day, but sometimes she really gets to me. How my mess got her killed. My eyes swell up but I calm down by the time I get back to work. Fresh smell of coffee can really calm my nerves.

I arrive and go to the back room and see I have sixteen minutes left of my break. _Talia isn't in here so I guess I can just hangout. There are all these boxes of stuff that could use some sorting through. Ezra will probably be happy if I de-clutter._

Slipping an apron over my head I see a box on top of a shelf that I could start with. I use a small step ladder and reach for it and then slowly come back down the steps realizing I need to tie my apron. A warm body then wraps around me and I realize Talia is doing up the tie of my apron; caught off guard I lose my breath and feel her breathe on my neck._Shit, uh._ "Th.. Thanks." I say. _Jesus. My stomach is flipping out right now, and her touch is making me feel tingles. What the-_

"Don't mention it, gorgeous." She says carefully behind my ear while holding my curves for a few seconds. Then I hear her walk away and a door open.

I turn around and place the box on the floor, then sit on the step ladder. Placing my elbows on my knees – I rest my forehead on my hands._She really does do something to me. This is honestly so weird. She leaves me out of breath. No one has done that since Maya, literally I feel speechless when she does something so simple. God I feel like a moron right now, or at least a dork. Something. What the hell am I going to do with her?_I begin sorting through the boxes without any knowledge of what I should actually do with all these random nick-knacks.

The next few hours pass by slowly; my mind completely jumbled and stressed all day. It is ten minutes until we are supposed to actually leave and close the doors. Everything is packed up; all the lights are out except in the lounge area.

I come out of the kitchen and find Talia looking at something._Well, here goes._

"So," I walk over to her, "everything is shut off and we can go."

"Hi, yeah I was just looking at this thing… uhm, what is it?" She stares at the weird looking table.

"Oh, uh… I can show you how it works if you'd like? Spencer showed me earlier." _This is perfect._

"Yes." She bluntly states and I giggle a tiny bit. I like that she is curious about something really random. _She seems like the type up for learning, and exploration._

"Alright."_I want to be smooth. I know smoothness. Right? Yeah._ I walk over to the chair and pull it out for her. I make eye contact with her and she gives me some sort of knowing glance_. She seems to have this type of personal look that I have only seen her give me; like she is fully with me. She's invested in me, like she can be with her cooking. I think she makes me feel like I am the only one in the room._

Talia sits down and I scoot her seat in. "Okay, now cup your ears with your hands while your elbows are on the two indents."

I walk away from her and over to the booth as I hear her reply with a laugh "Okay, I'll just wait here…?"

Talia POV.

_I feel so different around her. Being around her makes me so curious, about everything. She has this energy that-_

"This is how it works…" All of a sudden I feel a vibration through the table and I am surrounded by Emily's soothing voice, she continues, "through your bones, up your arms and to your ears. It's like I am right next you."

_Why is my heart beating so fast? I hear it… This feels insane and I love hearing her speak to me… damn._"The other night I was caught off guard. I guess I was surprised… You, being interested in me… I noticed from day one of meeting you how beautiful you are. Your eyes, and smile seem to captivate me. But I also have noticed how beautiful you are with your work… truthful, tranquil, talented." She articulates to me, and all I can think about is that I am seriously becoming love-struck. I can't think clearly, because words aren't enough to describe all the feelings at once. I close my eyes. "I believe that sometimes talent can cause people to feel lonely. To be alone. To be lonely… I know what that is like. I realize, you don't know me… at all really, and I don't know you. But… I want to know you."_I want to know you too._ I open my eyes and see Emily standing still in the booth bubble as she turns a light off. She looks down, and steps out and around; still looking at the ground, holding her right forearm with her left hand. I have noticed she does that a lot. _She has so many little habits, I love it._Getting up, I walk over to her as she stands in the centre of the room. She's still looking at the ground._I don't know what to do. Look at her, she's completely with me. She wants to know me. This is overwhelming. What do I-_

Emily slowly steps closer to me, just an inch away from my face as she is staring at the ground. She slightly looks up looking at my lips as I stare at hers, and stays there for at least five seconds, slightly biting her own lip nervously. My hands are behind my back, so she sharply breathes in from surprise when I put my left hand partially around her waist, and my right hand to rest on her hip bone. _This feels more than right._ I look up at her eyes once more before I look down at her lips; then subconsciously see darkness. Finding her lips with knowledge of distance, I softly kiss her; leaning into her, she then pushes her lips back against mine as she puts her arms around my shoulders, exhaling the breath through her nose that she was holding. Our lips pull apart for about half a second while I hold her tighter, needing to feel her close. She has her hand in the hair of the back of my neck. Words don't describe… her scent, her aura, her energy that makes my insides feel like their being incinerated. Though things are slow, they are heated. She won't stop putting a pressure on the back of my neck, making me sink into her then nibbles my bottom lip, ever so softly. "Mm.." I slightly vocalize closed mouthed against hers.

I open my eyes to see her biting her lip as she puts her left hand on my cheek. She closes her eyes and smiles, and I kiss her in front her ear once, slowly. I let my grip loosen up a bit. I notice she doesn't let go of me at all.

Smiling widely she opens her mouth to speak. "I… mmm.. I have an idea..."

_An idea…_"I'm listening, beautiful."

She shuts her eyes and smiles again. "I didn't exactly have a dinner, and I don't think you had one either… so if this isn't too sudden… may I take you out on a date, Talia?" She then makes eye contact with me and I get the chance to soak in the fact that her eyes are truly focused on mine. _How did she know I didn't eat..?_ _I should go change into my dress I keep here. She'll love that._

"Hmm.. you'll have to give me one minute." I say, smirking.

"Oh? Hmm. I guess I'll wait, right here?" Emily replies while laughing with confusion.

"Yep," I move my hands to holding her rib cage under her shoulder blades, noting her fit physique, "you're going to wait here and I am going to be back in no longer than three minutes."

Emily now blushes and kisses my dimple. She then leans closer to my ear. "Okay gorgeous, three minutes."

I look at her again, with a glance I have reserved for her, and go to the back room.

**To be continued...?**

**So did you like it? Hate it? I have no idea what anybody is going to think of this story so I would realllllly love some reviews. Again this is my first story on FanFiction... though I have read PLL and Glee fanfics for years. I love writing so much - feedback would help me out. Before I post anything more I am gonna wait and see what some people want from this story. I do have many ideas of where to take this - if I decide to continue, which I want to.**

**Can't wait for tomorrow's episode;(Feb 10th) it's going to be interesting how they play out Emalia's romance.**

**Espero que tengas una hermosa noche! - Trev**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi there Emalia shippers ****J****So I was surprised at how many people have viewed/visited my story within just ten hours of posting the first chapter. The reviews I did get were all encouraging, so here I am! **

**I would like to talk about something before I let you start reading… I want this story to really be unique. I'm going to try my best to make it not just another fanfic that has been done before, with a different pairing. I am all about detail, and doing my best to not skip time. This chapter without the starting or ending A/Ns is 5124 words… I tell you this because I am not going to do chapters based on a thousand words… for example, If see I have a 1500 words in my word doc, I'm not gonna rush myself to then end the chapter, just to get an update out. I really want the reader to have smooth, detailed reading.**

**Last thing – I do already have a chapter written after this one. I'm not going to be posting chapters on a fixed schedule, because my goal is the end product of the story as a whole. I will be trying my best to tie this story in with what is happening on the show – and I think it will be really interesting for readers to really know how Emily feels… about everything; and Talia, for that matter. I'm hoping that everyone that ends up reading this story far in the future appreciates the fact I want this story to actually have depth. ****J****Anyway, Enjoy!**

**Bold words are messages or something important.**

**Italic sentences/words are the characters thinking; or they might be a word that is accentuated - or onomatopoeia.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars, only my own thoughts and ideas of the Pretty Little Liars universe.**

**Talia POV.**

_This is crazy. Was that stupid to just ditch her like that, after… THAT kiss? Mmm._ I grab my maroon purse and get my change of clothes I keep here; for if we have a special night to host. _Breathe._ I look at the black-edged, dark blue cocktail dress I am holding out in front of me._ Goddamn. She just asked me out without any hesitation… Straight forward is nice for a change. She's also so polite and lovely. I want to impress her… but then again I don't want her to think I'm … Ok I just need to put the dress on. _Taking a deep breath, I widen my eyes and shake my head, then exhale. I smirk to myself, knowing that Emily is making me feel like I'm going out on the first date I have ever been on. Then I realize that in a way; it might just be that. _This is my first real date with a woman._

Changed and dressed to impress, I realize all I have are black strappy flats. I know that I like being taller than Emily - which usually I am, due to heels; evidently she is maybe a pinkie nail taller than I. _Do I have a plan? No. Sounds good. _I nod to myself.

After I walk out and shut the back room door, I turn to see Emily's mouth slightly open; as she bites her tongue at the side of her cheek, eyeing me up and down. I saunter over, "two fifty seven… two fifty eight," when I reach her I put my arms over her shoulders, around her neck, "two fifty nine..." I grin. _God all I want to do is make out with her right now but I have to be at least a little proper. Have to do things in the right order… get to know her more. _

Emily grins with all teeth showing, leaning her head back on a tilt. "You, look, stunning… I'm in a bit taken back though. I feel underdressed..." she says placing her hands on my hips. _Man… my insides are bursting with butterflies right now. Never mind, those are hornets. _Sensing she's a little nervous with the way she pronounced her sentences, I start talking in a calm tone giving as much eye contact as I can.

"You're nowhere near underdressed. Besides, I just want to let you know that we could be going to The Keg, or… I don't know… Taco Bell, and I wouldn't think you're ever underdressed, or overdressed for that matter. Alright?" I smile as she stares at my lips. "Now…" I see her staring at my lips still, so I smirk. Emily smirks back._ She's thinking the same thing. I just want to kiss her._ I snicker slightly and then look into her eyes. "Where are you taking me? Or are you just gonna fantasize about kissing me for the rest of the evening?" I tease.

"Well…" Emily's stomach grumbles in the cutest way possible. _I wonder if she eats right. She never seems to feed herself properly… at least when I am around._

"Sounds like you're hungry…"

"Wow… um. No, that honestly is probably me just having too many butterflies and being nervous at the same time. Maybe a little hungry too, though.." She looks at the ground sheepishly, then steps back and takes my hand. "Like surprises?"

"Yes." I reply simply. Sometimes, simple is refreshing. We leisurely walk out and Emily locks the front door.

"Okay, and we don't need to drive by the way, just under a five minute walk."

"Fine by me." I make sure I make eye contact with her. _Okay good, there is nothing really fancy within walking distance. I want to be pretty casual for now. _Emily holds onto my arm by linking ours together, and we start walking east, towards the area of small restaurants and shops._ Now that I think about it, things do seem kind of casual with her… or, hmm.. I guess the better word to describe is comfortable. I do already feel comfortable with Emily. She has a trusting personality. _"You don't have to be home anytime soon, right?"

Exhaling a laugh through her nose, "No; I can be home anytime. We're not in any rush if that is what you're asking."

"Okay. By the way, I really like it when you bite your tongue… you sort of grin, or have a half smile.. It's cute."

"I think I'm slowly learning that your mind jumps around a lot. I like it."

_I like it too._ Sometimes it's too much, though; and when I start thinking about hardship, I get into a cycle. I note to myself that I need to just have fun tonight._ No big deep conversations… maybe a little, but nothing too serious or dramatic. I really don't want to fuck this up… Even though Emily was rude to me before, she was just going through a lot. _Now that I know Emily just a smidge more, I could care less about the fact she didn't welcome me at first. That is one thing I know by experience, to never judge someone by first impression. Also I've learned to not categorize someone from an unplanned first impression, especially; it makes things harder for everybody. _She is probably still going through a lot – I want to be there for her. I have to make sure later she understands that if she needs me, I'm here. There has to be something going on, at work she's always so jumpy or stressed._

**Emily POV.**

_Damn she's random…_ I laugh to myself after we've been silently walking for a couple minutes.

"You're laughing at me, aren't you?" Talia questions playfully.

"Not at you… it's different." I know I'm laughing because I can tell Talia is a huge dork deep down, but I'm not going to tell her that yet. I have no idea what offends her and doesn't offend her, yet. Soon, I see the two restaurants I was looking for side by side; Romeos Italian restaurant, and Lefty's. _Alright._ "Okay Miss Sandoval, which door will you choose?" The restaurants were close together with an alleyway in between them; each with a unique style. Talia looks uneasy, but then replies with a lovely charm, raising an eyebrow.

"After you, Miss Fields." She holds open the door to the Italian restaurant for me._ Charming…_

We walk in and I ask for a table for two, in a more private setting. The restaurant isn't big, but they have little areas meant for dates. I take Talia's hand and lead her to wear the hostess brings us. "Here we are, table for two, Mrs. And Mrs. Fields." _Oh god. Aren't they supposed to not assume things? This is funny though.. and quite cute. _Talia is obviously trying not to giggle. I pull out a chair for her and she sits down with the cheekiest grin I've seen on her. I just play this smoothly and take off my jacket, then sit down myself. "Is there a beverage I can start you off with? My name is Jennifer, by the way; I will be your hostess for the evening."

Talia speaks up, "We'll get two glasses of Pinot Grigio, please." My eyebrow subconsciously raises, but I keep my mouth shut._ A little wine hmm? Someone wants to be fancy. _

"We don't have any Pinot Grigio tonight, sorry; though we have some nice albariño which is very similar." Jennifer states politely.

Talia turns to look at me with an expression I don't recognize on her. "Is that alright with you, hun?" _Wow, it seems like she has asked me that a million times over._

"Yeah that's fine, thanks for asking." I smile at her simply, playing along.

"I will be back shortly." Watching the hostess leave I can't help but then turn to Talia with my mouth a little loose. I huff with a silent laugh, and stare her down.

"Did you really just…" I start. _Honestly I don't know what I should say. She just called me hun and acted like I was her spouse. _

Talia looks like she's thinking about something, trying to make up her mind between two situations; tilting her head back and forth, looking up. She then makes a _not-that-bad_ type of expression. "Talia Rae Fields… huh." Looking me in the eye, she grins as she takes a sip of her water, like she's expecting me to say something.

_This woman makes me feel incredible. And I haven't even touched her in that...way.. wait. Shhh. Just shut up, brain… Not the time to make yourself hot, Emily. Calm your ass down…_ I reach halfway across the iron edged glass table to hold her hand, exhaling happily. "Talia, you're beautiful." I tell her with a slight rasp to my voice. She looks at me smiling, but confused. "I think to be more specific - I really like the way you hold yourself. Your mannerisms make me feel more alive, if that makes sense. I think that's a good way to put it… Oh, and Emily Catherine Sandoval sounds _much_ better, though… I've never been fond of my middle name. I would like it for other people, but I feel like it doesn't suit me… I've always wanted it to be something from my Filipino ancestors. Apparently I got it from my Irish side… I have a ton of redheaded, freckled family members; I guess my family is pretty diverse."_She really hasn't stopped smiling._ I notice this and note how she's acting; though she has been fiddling with her napkin. I understand she is nervous, because so am I.

Really trying to contain a loud snicker, she asks "Is this what U-Hauling starts off as, or something? If you're already my wife…" Talia plays._ Oh my god._

Animatedly grinning with all my teeth I laugh with her, not knowing what to say; she's being hilarious. "Let's look at the menu, hun." I wink, trying to do so in a way so she knows I'm just joking around.

Talia flips through the menu. "Don't judge me, but I should steal some of these ideas. Some of these appetizers sound perfect."

The hostess comes back over with our wine, and I feel special. I know that only the reason the hostess didn't ask me for identification is because Talia claimed me as her wife._ Wow its weird thinking about that._ "Thank you Miss." I say to Jennifer.

"Are you two ready to order?"

I feel my phone vibrating in my back pocket. "We are, but if you excuse me I am going to go to the lady's room. Darling, will you order for me please?" I ask as I get up from my chair.

"Of course I will." Talia says, still smirking from being nervous and getting a good laugh out of me. _I should really actually call her darling. I've never said it to other people before._

I scurry to the washroom and realize I missed the call.

**Missed Call From: Hannah Marin 9:21pm**

Looking in the mirror, I sigh._ Can reality just let me have one amazing night? It's been so long since I've had a drama free day._ Wiping the tiniest bit of smudged mascara from under my eye, I call Hannah back.

_Ring, ring… _"Emily? Where are you? Aria, Spencer and I thought you were coming to Spencer's. You should probably come here soon, we need to update you."

"Han… I can't. I'm busy. And honestly I don't know if I would come over anyway if I wasn't. I need to relax for a night. I'm super stressed out… okay? Please understand. I'll text you later tonight when I can meet up. Which will probably end up being tomorrow - Saturday."

"Emily… okay. Fine." Hannah sounds distant and upset.

"Are you mad at me? You can't be."

"No I'm not. You know I love you and I understand. Believe me. I'll let you go. Talk to you tomorrow with Spencer and Aria. You should relax, loosen up… have a drink or two. You deserve it honestly."

I laugh with a bit of relief. "Already have the wine. Thanks Han, bye."

_Phew… okay, that wasn't that bad. It's alright. Nothing too major._ I look at myself in the mirror again and half smile, while I worryingly squint my eyes._ You've got this gorgeous woman out there waiting for you. Okay? Go._

Walking out I hold my head up high. I am 8 feet away from our table, when my mood gets a little dent again. _Buzz, buzz - m_y cell teases me. I decide to ignore the text and sit down. _Not going to check my phone until I get home. I don't care._

"Hello there, Hermosa." Talia looks up from the beverage menu she was probably studying and taking mental notes from. She is really serious about knowing anything to do with something you can ingest; that's passion.

"Hola preciosa, yo no sabía que usted habla español?" Talia's eyes focus fully on me, obviously caught off guard. She regains her attitude quickly.

"Lo hago, pero suena como usted sabe más. Suenas fluidez."_ Esta chica sólo sigue sorprendiéndome. _I feel almost light headed with all the tingles through my body. I've always wanted to date someone who could speak another language as me as well. _Esto es increíble._

"No totalmente. Tengo que decir que esto es sólo una cosa más adoro de ti… I've been taking Spanish classes since I was 14, so I do know how to have a light conversation, at least."

"I adore that you speak too... Honestly that's a total plus. Sorry if I'm making a fool of myself, I probably don't make the most sense… Now I just want to learn more because you speak so well."

I know I'm blushing heavily as my face grows hotter. "I understand you and that's what matters… I don't really care if your grammar is a little off. It's fine, really…" I wink.

"That too. I want to learn how to wink like you do." Talia sips her wine; I almost forgot we had some.

"Oh really? You like it when I wink at you?" I question.

"Who wouldn't?"

_This is really going well._ I make a daring eye contact with her, and then take a sip of the albari**ñ**o "What if you're the only one who has told me you like it when I wink?"

"I wouldn't believe you." Talia is observing as much as she can see of me; as if she was studying me like she would a cookbook, or a recipe. Her eyes are narrowed. _Fuck… she looks hot. That dress has to be one of my favorite things I've seen her in. She really needs to let down her hair or else I won't be able to stop staring at her neck… stunning. _Gaining my composure after a few seconds I reply to her.

"Well, fine. We'll leave it at that then." Nobody has – observed me as much as her. She notices such insignificant things about me, or maybe it's not that she's the only one who notices things about me, but that she decides to points them out. _She sure knows how to make a girl feel like they're the only one in the room._ As I remember thinking that earlier, as well._ I wonder how many girls she has dated before, she seems like a natural at being smooth… I probably shouldn't ask her anything of past relationships tonight. I won't. That would be too much. This is fun, nothing serious needs to happen._ "What did you order me, anyway?"

"Like surprises?" She takes my right hand with her left from across the table, and rubs my index finger with her thumb; mimicking me from earlier. _That is seriously something to fall in love with._

Squeamish and jittery, I ask "You're a mime too?"

Talia exhales looking almost embarrassed, but then speaks lowly. "Only when it makes you look that hot for me."

Completely caught off guard my jaw hangs slightly, and with habit, I bite my tongue in the back of my mouth. _Is she trying to make me feel like I'm on fire? I'm burning up._ I swallow, eyeing her... "So this restaurant is beautiful, right?" I decide to change the subject, knowing that she'll know I am purposely making her forget about what she just said.

"Nice." Talia states.

**Talia POV**

"Oh, I know." Emily says, tongue-in-cheek, acting like she's the best at something – which she is._ She probably thinks I'm killing her, but she kills me more… and that Spanish… I haven't had someone to speak Spanish with in years._

I had a chance to look at all the scenery when she went to the washroom. Floors are brick square tile, and the roof is dark blue with little white spots, representing stars. Floral, iron-gated-like patterns are our walls that surround us on three sides of our table, like a little booth. Vines are entangled in the walls and our light sources are candles. _This is probably one of the most romantic dates I've ever been on._ Emily is silent, using both her hands to play with mine._ I need to really remember this moment. Snapshot it. Keep this picture… it's like a piece of artwork. It's absolutely divine. I don't know why I wasn't true to myself… Emily is really making me question what the fuck all those years of lies were really about. Was I just scared? Confused? _

"You're thinking about something…" Emily whispers.

"I am."

Hesitantly, she looks concerned. "Is it a secret…?" _Crap, hopefully I haven't been looking sad or something._

"No… It's not." I leave it at that, hoping she doesn't ask anything more. I don't want to lie to her. Now, Emily definitely doesn't know what to say, so she plays with my hand more. We keep silent for a few comfortable moments._ She's so mature. She obviously knows that it is not something to bring up right now. _Amazed with her, I continue speaking. "You're amazing. Just thought you should know, you know, in case you forgot."

"And you're amazing, because you're honest. I'm glad you're not the type to shrug important things off. That's a pet peeve of mine I have to admit. You know how to communicate well, without even speaking. Even when I burnt your dinner the other night, you didn't shrug it off."

"You're right, I didn't…"

"Yeah, instead of telling me that it was nothing, you didn't care, or that it was no big deal – you explained to me that these types of things happen and you went as far as telling me some mistakes of yours, and how you learned from them. I know that seems irrelevant and miniscule, but little changes in how people handle things can make a huge difference in my opinion."

"I do totally agree with you on that. The smallest decision in comfort can be the difference between life, and death sometimes, even." I pause to think. "I used to want to be a therapist, you know. I took a few university courses when I was 19… but after studying for 6 months I decided it was too much for me to handle. Psychologically, too much. I can get too deep into thought, I guess."

Emily's deep brown eyes stare me down with a little lust to them. _Shit… was that too deep? Why does the word deep have to mean so many things…? Does she understand where I'm coming from? What if she really isn't like that at all? I really hope Emily isn't the type to judge people who are depressed… say they can just choose to be happy. _"Yeah… Talia, I'm getting what you mean, trust me. Okay?" She smiles at me and immediately I feel a bit of relief. "Like I said earlier… you don't really know me, but one thing I promise you is that you can trust me to not do anything to purposely hurt you… alright?" _That made me feel a million times better._ "Look… we both have things about our past, and present, that we aren't going to want to talk about for a bit. I have demons, I'm sure you do as well. And I've been worried that I might say something stupid, but now I know for sure you're way more understanding than I even hoped you would be." _Trillion. _"Talia, there isn't any pressure about anything. Alright?"

"Thank you."

Emily just knowingly smiles. "Thank you too."

"You're welcome… umm. Though, what am I welcoming? I mean I have an idea."

"What's your idea, first?"

"You're good at keeping a conversation going. Did you know that? Okay uhm. You're thanking me for being.. silently open."

"You're right. I am good at keeping a conversation going. About anything… my mom thinks I should study something about socialism with world politics, or human rights. I kind of would love to be an activist of some sort. And yes… but no. I thank you for being so generous with your attitude.. You've done a few things tonight already that show me you're not just a flat character. Makes me just want to solve all the mysteries about you... but I know I have to wait." _She's just glowing. Her face is glowing. _Her lips are pursed slightly, while eyebrows are slanted with passion of what she is saying._ She's obviously intrigued by me… maybe I won't end up scaring her off. I have so much to hide but every minute that passes by, the more that I think about it… _

My train of thought gets cut off when Jennifer comes to the table and serves us dinner, which is seafood bowtie pasta, with a side of oysters. "I hope you like what I ordered."

"This looks great, Talia. When it comes to seafood, I'll eat anything. The scallops are amazing here. I knew you would pick something good. If you didn't I definitely would have said you failed me." Emily laughs as I playfully roll my eyes at her.

After thirty minutes of eating and talking about the decoration of the restaurant; because we didn't actually end up changing the topic to that, after my sexual comment earlier - I realize how easy it is to talk with Emily._ I really don't have anything to worry about. I have to be more confident..._

I use the washroom to take a minute to myself after we finish our meal. I take breathers quite often. _This date has gone so well… _I wash my hands, and crack my knuckles, just another habit that know I will never break. I come back to Emily ready to go.

"You all good to go?" Emily asks holding out her hand.

"Yeah, but the we have to wait for the bill."

"You couldn't have thought that I wouldn't have paid for it, right honey?" She winks. "I asked you out. I pay."

I almost decide to protest, but I know that there isn't a point to changing anything. "When I take you out on our next date, I'm paying sweetie." I say close up to her, and then give her a small kiss on her cheek.

Emily puts her leather jacket on right before she opens the front door for me. We walk down the sidewalk a little casually. "Oh? So now you read minds? Okay."

"Yeah, you already said yes to a second date with your expression when I was talking about how I make you hot." _Oh I love making her all embarrassed. _We're now stopped underneath a lamppost, and she's just standing there in a pout. "You set yourself up for that, beautiful. That was a perfect mirror compared to earlier. Almost." I say grinning as I step in closer to her.

"You're right."

"I know I am. Mime's, reading minds… rhymes." I intently raise my brow. _I'm good at being lame. When I'm lame I'm funny._

"Wow, you really _are_ _something_… but no, as in I mean you're right… you.. make me hot." Emily says as she backs me gently up against the dull lamppost.

_Oh._ "I see…" I can't help but stare at her lips. She's staring at mine so I hold her jaw line with both of my hands; this causes her eyes to flutter… almost stutter because they don't know what to do. "Emily you're-"

She cuts me off and asks with a raspy tone, "say my name again."

With an attitude I start, "Emily Fie-"

**Emily POV**

Just a kiss? No. A meaningful act of falling for this girl without her knowing? Maybe._ She really could help me get out of this darkness I've been in._ I've currently got Talia pinned up against this conveniently placed street lamp. _I love this. Her holding my jaw, our mouths in an inevitable slow lip lock. This was indefinite after that amazing dinner._ Talia bites my lower lip slightly and my biggest wish right now was that we were in private. I don't care about PDA, I just would like this to last a little longer. I exhale into her mouth and she starts making my lip swollen by sucking on it, ever so gently. My hands roam to the indent of her back, pulling her closer to me."Talia.." I whisper into her mouth, and then continue "we need to…" she kisses me hard pushing my head back "mmm," _Oh my god, stoppppppp._ "okay we n-"

"Shhhh." She buzzes on my lips slowly. "Okay. I know," She takes a step back from me while holding onto my hand, looking totally aroused, "let me take you home." I notice her lip quiver when she breathes in sharply, closing her eyes. Last time I checked the time it was quarter to eleven.

All I do is nod, blushing.

After we get in the car she turns to look at me. "A kiss for the driver." She states while pointing to her cheek, cheekily. I lean in and give her a peck as she starts the car.

"And I'm guessing it's a kiss for the cook as well?"

"Mmmm… Nope." She laughs as she starts her Ford Fusion and pulls out of the slanted car space.

"Oh."

"Yeup." This is when I catch on.

"Oh..." _Oh my._

Talia smiles at me, playing with her tongue against the inside of her cheek.

"I like you, you know." I tell her as I rest my hand across the centre console on top of hers, as she drives with her left hand.

"Oh, I know." Talia says, acting with an impression of me; a terrible impression for that matter. _She can't not be such a goddamn flirt right now, can she?_

"You've just been on a roll haven't you?"

"Of course," she then stays silent while driving into a main road which is only a few blocks from my street. "no but Emily… I had a wonderful night with you," she turns looking at me and I lean on the car door with my elbow, smiling, "I want to take you out soon. I had an amazing time. By the way where am I going?"

"Oh, turn on the second left in about one hundred meters."

"Meters? Canadian too?"

"What? We use meters for like half the stuff here… no, I'm not. However I did go to Vancouver for a ski trip with my family when I was 10. This is it coming up, my house is in front of us to the right, at the three way stop." I tell her, pointing at my house.

She pulls into my driveway and turns the ignition off. We get out and I walk over to Talia's side, leaning on her car. "Thank you for asking me so suddenly, and taking me out to dinner, Emily."

"You're very welcome," Talia saunters close to me and leans in, but doesn't kiss me. "you have certainly impressed me."

"Have I now?" She asks, as I can feel her warm breath on my lips. I suck on my own bottom lip and decide to hold her right cheek, as she leans over me against the car.

"Yep, so kiss me, please." I say almost pleading. Talia gives me that trademark glance, and presses her full lips to mine. Tasting some sort of mint, I melt into the kiss. I right away feel her tongue very slightly skim in between my lips, so after putting my arms comfortably around her shoulders I try to obtain her tongue past my teeth. It _absolutely_ makes me hot when a girl loves to fuck my mouth; that really is the only way to put it. Blunt, but truthful._ Damn…_ Talia slips deep through my lips and I can't help but moan a buzz of amusement; thrilled that she is just as into this as I am. She slowly licks the roof of my mouth and then leans back, using her own face to push mine to the side gently. Kissing below my ear on my neck once, she serenely states, "I should really let you go; your family is probably wondering why you haven't told them where you are, sorry."

_My family… wow I just realized we never talked about anything to do with family over dinner… weird. It's only my mom and I 90% of the time._ "You have nothing to be sorry for, I'm out late often, and its Friday anyway… besides I _really_ like this." I tell her with a growl in my voice. "But yes, I should go even though I don't want to…"

Talia moves to beside me and leans her back against the car with her arms loosely crossed. "Alright… I guess I'll see you soon, though?" She smirks with a charm.

"Of course." I state, walking backwards while looking at her. "Goodnight, darling."

"Goodnight _gorgeous_." Talia pronounces with a flirty exaggeration.

Walking to my front door I pull out my keys and hear her car door shut. It's only until after a few minutes pass, I go to my room and hear the engine start, followed by asphalt cracking. My room is dark except for a yellow light that glows on my desk because of my laptop cable; as well as the moonlight that is cascading in. I sit on my window seat, sighing. _I think I'm speechless right now._ For the first time in forever I don't have thousands of thoughts all nagging at me. With this peaceful mindset, I decide to take a shower and head to bed, knowing my mom is already fast asleep as there were no lights on when I came in.

**So did you like it? Hate it? Love itttt? If you have the time, review if this chapter made you smile, or have a feeling in general. Tell me your feelings ****J****Lets share the feelings together. I noticed I had some mistakes in the last chapter, so this chapter I really made sure I looked over everything immensely. I don't like mistakes haha, it annoys me. I will post the next chapter probably before the next episode comes out on Feb 17****th****. I'm really happy about the latest episode, it's looking like Talia is gonna be sticking around, as they are giving details about her life. I wrote this chapter after the knowledge that she is married, by the way; which means yes, it will be a part of this story; you probably caught on. Oh, and yes, I partially speak Spanish and wish to have some Spanish speaking in this story. If you don't speak Spanish and never have a translator around, tell me how I should go about that… if I should leave translations at the bottom or like.. anything that you think would be a good option. Can't wait to read your reviews, goodnight beauties! **

**Stay Strong, Spread Strength – Trev.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey ladies, gents, and everyone else in-between. Do I ever love you reviews! Thanks for the support and people loving the story so far, it really means a lot. By the way – I will definitely accept polite criticism! I want to become better as a writer. I'm realizing that I have a good flow going on, and I need to care less about little mistakes. It's about how I give you a picture and an understanding of feelings, more than grammar perfection - ****J****Anyway, review even if you're from the future and this is an old story, all encouragement to keep writing is welcome.**

**This chapter is shorter than the last one, but honestly – QUALITY over QUANTITY… am I right? Hope you like getting to know Talia and Emily a little more… realistically better. You're gonna really love this chapter… and if you don't, tell me why? ;)**

**Bold words are messages or something important.**

**Italic sentences/words are the characters thinking; or they might be a word that is accentuated – or some onomatopoeia.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars, only my own thoughts and ideas about the Pretty Little Liars universe.**

**Talia POV**

_Was that ever… good, great, amazing, tremendous.. I don't know if there is a good enough word to describe how well that went. That was near perfect, but nothing is perfect._ Singing silently to Bon Iver's song, Wash; I pull over on the side of the road in the middle of town. _I think tonight's the night I move everything into my new apartment. It just feels right to do it right now… Eric will understand. _Eric really is my best friend. After all these years of confusion, I now really understand myself. I always knew I liked woman more than men, but all the experience I had with women were just high school and college experiments; or more like one-sided relationships where the girls played with my heart. Before I decided to have a safety net with Eric, there was the girl that got away… the girl that I was too much of a dork to be with, and I will forever question myself for not telling her I loved her before she moved away. Eric always loved me since high school, and I knew with him I had safety, and someone I could rely on. Someone to depend on and who I can laugh with is for sure more than enough of a life partner for some people; but I was never in love with him. I love him platonically… which sometimes I really can't wrap my head around. He is the most gentleman-like guy I have ever met and I just can't seem to fall for him. Marrying him was definitely not a mistake I would say, we have had our amazing moments – but now I have left that chapter in my life. I think back to where I was when I dropped out of university._ I was so lost… I didn't know what to do with myself. Cooking and Eric really were what held me together. I guess I was just too scared to not have anyone. "To be alone… To be lonely. I know what that is like. " _Emily's voice rings in my mind._ I'm so glad Eric understands… Emily will most definitely understand all this too. She, really is the mind reader – she was basically speaking my feelings into my ears as if I were thinking to myself, like I am right now…_ I take my cell out of my purse to call Eric and see I have a text from him.

**Mr. Mendoz: Hey Talia, just want to let you know in case you're wondering that I'll be out late tonight. Probably be back around 12 – 1. I finished packing up some of your necessity items. I also decided to pack up all your cooking utensils for you, I know you have been wanting to move soon… and you should definitely have your cooking stuff for that girl you like ;) I love you - call me if you can tonight. If not, I'll see you tomorrow, night. ****_10:51pm_**

Smiling, I tap on his name to call and turn down my music, which has now shuffled to Michicant.

"Good eveninggg Talia." Eric says gleefully.

"Hey Eric, thank you for packing up some of my stuff… uhm, I was calling because I want to let you know I'm going to sleep at my new place tonight. My bed frame isn't put together and I don't have much over there, but I'm going to go get what you packed… It just feels right tonight. Tonight I feel comfortable, you know?"

"I understand what you mean; you just know it's a good time to. Good for you Talia… well, I'm really glad you're taking this step for yourself, really." He truthfully admits.

"Thank you, Eric. I love you okay?" I look out my window shield at the street; a lamppost glow reflects off a puddle. "I don't know where I'd be without you, as I have said so many times."

"I don't where I'd be without you either, you know that… I have to go, my boss is telling me that the new DJ needs help. Love you, night Talia.."

"Goodnight Eric..."After hanging up, I rest my hands ten and two, then start my vehicle.

When I get into now-Eric's, one story house, I see the two boxes on the kitchen counter._ This part of my life is going to keep with me… I definitely learned from it; but I have a future. _I can't help but picture Emily's presence - her aura in my mind. Looking at the clock I see its 11:40pm. I grab some small things of mine that are scattered throughout the house; a horse shoe, my laptop, my art supplies, half a pack of Benson &amp; Hedges Deluxe, Red Wine, and a string of yellow lights. Glancing over at my guitar in the corner of the living room_,_ I find I have a dilemma._ Guess you'll have to wait for me to come back for you._ I stick this all into the box of my pots and pans, placing my toiletries box on top, and carry the lot to my car. _I've been ready for this for a while... I think Emily is the thing pushing me to do this. To be independent again might be little hard… but I'll manage. Ergh. I want my guitar. Nah, I'll scratch it if I try to cramp it in here, too many boxes. _Thinking about how my 2003 Ford Fusion really is on it last limbs, I decide to start the engine and pull out of the drive way.

On the ride to my place I realize I haven't lived by myself since I was 20, right after I quit my psychology university course to then get into a culinary school; which seems like forever ago, though it's only been a few years. My new apartment was going to definitely have a different feeling of reality. I never liked being alone, and that's definitely a reason I ended up marrying Eric. _A new chapter. _

_So… I could probably walk to Emily's in no longer than 12 minutes from here…_ I think to myself as I pull up to my apartment building. _Everything is so close together in Rosewood, it's so easy. _Getting the boxes from the back seat, I start heading to the elevator through the small, quaint lobby._ Man, I really need to stop thinking about stuff like that about Emily; at least for now. We have gone on one date. I can't be optimistic about this yet. Things let me down a lot… Prepare yourself, Talia, but be positive. Don't expect the worse… I've done that too much before too. I basically already have another date with Emily though… maybe I should cook her a meal at my place? Or after work we can have the whole place to ourselves. Close up late… Ezra should be fine with that. I guess I could just ask her, even though she has shown she likes surprises. _I note that I'm smiling just thinking about her, as I walk down the hallway.

Entering my one bedroom, 850 square feet apartment, I let go of the boxes with relief on the dark hardwood floor. I didn't want anything enormous when I was looking for a place to live; all I needed was my own space. Saving money was just a plus; thinking about how grateful I am for the job Ezra gave me. Without any deep thoughts for a few moments - I take in the feelings of everything being mine, everything being a certain sense of freedom. I peacefully take the pack of smokes from the cardboard box, and walk over to the glass sliding door, across from the main entrance. Opening the door, I forget I don't have a chair or anything to sit on, outside on the small deck that overlooks some small shops; where in the distance I can see the Rosewood police station. Being four stories up, I have a decent view. Leaning against the black railing, I rip off the tip of my cigarette; the reason to this is because an old friend once told me the unhealthiest part of a cigarette is the tip, due to glue that holds the tobacco from falling out. Maybe twice a week I have a smoke, sometimes none. I don't find that I am addicted, more that I like having a moment of serenity to myself every now and again. Realizing I'm cold I get a black hooded sweater from inside to wear over top of my dress. _This night has been… full. _I reach into my little maroon purse that has basically been attached to my shoulder for a few hours - for a lighter, and then set it down on the hardwood inside, closing the sliding door.

Lighting the smoke, I wonder if Emily will be bothered about some of the things I do, or the type of lifestyle I live. I'm very open to different experiences. _She's not going to judge me… or be disappointed, I hope. Cigarettes can't be a deal breaker… she probably understands anyway._ Having Eric in my life for years has opened my eyes a lot. I used to be the girl that would give someone a nasty look if they were smoking, or drinking for that matter. I now put myself in everybody else's shoes, and really give thought about who they are as a person, in whole. _Honestly… if she asks me to stop smoking some day, I probably will. I think I would do anything for her if we ever fall in love… look at you, already talking about love. You're crazy, Talia. _My conscious starts nagging me playfully. Trying to picture myself in third person, I realize this moment's meaningfulness. This moment has a tremendous belonging in my new journey.

After finishing my smoke and feeling completely relaxed, I decide to just put some sheets on my new queen bed. I look at the clock and see it's about to be 1am._ Time to rest… long day, but a fucking good one…_

**Emily POV.**

At the foot of my bed, Maya repeats herself. "Emily… you need to start standing up for yourself. They keep telling you what to do."

This time I actually try to reply, but the words don't come out. I can't speak.

"Honestly, this is why I'm not here anymore. Nate is still up there, in the light house… you just left him, you're sick." She stares at me with her eyes intently piercing through my vision. Maya is not making sense and I am deeply confused. "Alison wants to let you know that she's thinking about you. She's cold, in jail. She doesn't get blankets. You should give her a blanket so she can keep warm as you think she's planning her next attack. Is she planning an attack, Emily? Haven't you figured out who _A_ is? Aren't you cute, being all stupid. You need to be more charming." I start feeling faint. "I want you to know that even though what happened was preventable, it was meant to happen. And here I am. So pl..ase, s.. ..it,… … ..c..nt…be….th… .o..y…fate of…..y… …san..ty." Maya stops making sense and I start feeling dizzy. I can feel I'm sweating, almost violently.

"But..Maya I don't… wait.. just wait… I need to..I get.. no I don't… Whats happen..ing.. Is Alison.. cant.." I can tell Maya is now standing, but I then promptly black out.

Blackness, nothingness, or darkness is all I see – if that is even considered seeing. I move my hand to touch my face, feeling that I'm super hot._ Am I… it's really hot._ Turning my body slightly in my bed, the blackness then turns into a slight maroon. Realizing I'm awake, I subconsciously open my eyes very poorly in attempt to see the light from my window, streaming in over my desk._ Ugh… does it really have to be morning right now… wait._ I jolt up a tiny bit and feel a headache, noticing I'm boiling and that my forehead is too disgustingly sweaty to have a good description. "Fuck." _Damn it, just damn this.. _I get out of bed too fast which leads me to get a head rush, so I sit down on the floor against my dresser after losing my balance. Closing my eyes I start wanting to cry, angry that I had this upsetting, twisted dream. I put my head against my knees, holding my hair out of face._ Really… does this really have to be how I wake up today… I shouldn't have fucking sleep paralysis like this. Especially after such a great night last night…_ Trying to think of what triggered my sleep paralysis dream about Maya, and whatever the fuck else - I get extremely frustrated. "Fucking… fuck." I whisper to myself. _It all didn't even make sense… like what the fuck, Nate being still up there? Ali needing a damn blanket… _Closing my eyes, I then laugh and tilt my head back against the dresser, in pure amusement. "Oh god… what the actual shit?" _That dream was probably my self-consciousness trying to make me feel bad about myself. Which it did, but if I think about it, it's sort of hilarious._ I decide that everything Maya said was irrelevant; though having a picture of her in my head saying all those things hurts. Sleep paralysis happens to me a few times a month; sometimes they aren't even bad dreams. This was probably one of the top ten worse, though. I think I'm awake and that the dream is real - I can't move, and I usually sweat a bucket. Trying to comfort myself, I assure myself that it's just what nightmares do; they are scary, or rude to me, but they aren't real. _It's all good. You're awake now… you know it was just your mind messing with you. Let's get up, Em._

I look at the clock and see it's just after six. _Really… now what… agh. I guess I'll go for a run, no point in going back to sleep. I don't want to have another shitty dream anyway._ When I have a bad dream, it usually then continues to the next time I sleep, because I can't help but think about it as I lay in my bed. Everything I remember in my slumber sticks with me; I have a very photographic memory.

_What do I have to do today? What do I want to do, is the question…_ I change into my running clothes and head downstairs for coffee; picking up my iPod from the couch, and sunglasses from the counter, as I boil the kettle. _Have to talk to the girls… have to finish my Socials paper, which I could just do tomorrow, won't take me long…ermm.._ The kettle makes a click noise and I get out my instant coffee, not caring about taste, I know I just need caffeine. _"Em, you know you just need caffeine. We'll go to bed soon, let's stay up longer." _Alison's voice plays in my mind. "Shit." I sigh out… I then spill the hot water a little bit on the counter. Extremely aggravated by my mind randomly deciding to call out a distinct memory from a few nights before Ali and I kissed, I rest my elbows on the counter, and place my head in my hands. "Mmm," I growl, "why…"

"Goodmorning sweetheart, you're up early for a Saturday." My mother gestures, walking past me even though I know I clearly look distraught. "Why is there water dripping on the floor… can you please clean it up? You know it leaves a water st-

"Mom, I know." Cutting her off, I realize I snapped a little more than I should have; though I don't exactly know why she didn't seem to realize I'm about to start sulking.

"Emily… that wasn't a nice good morning. Are you alright?"

"I'm just in a bad mood. Sorry." I quickly wipe the floor and the counter, and then pour sugar and skim milk into my coffee. "I'm going out for a run, talk to you later." I take note that my mom was watching me do all these actions, very rushed, the whole time._ Wow I must not look like myself to her._

"Ok, see you dear…" Hearing the confusion and concern in her voice, I sigh stepping out the front door to sit on my porch. _Damnit… now she'll be questioning me later._ I like it that my mom genuinely cares for me, but she has never been completely understanding of my feelings– and I will never forget some of the things she has done to me. Maybe I have a grudge on her, maybe I don't. All I know is that I haven't forgiven her for some actions she has done in the past – especially because she has not apologized. _I should ask my mom about her view on things now… maybe I'll get a different answer. Or maybe I'm the literal definition of crazy._ Finishing my coffee, I unlock my iPod touch to select a playlist.

**Playlist: When I'm Pissed, and Lonely.**

**1\. Andrew Belle – Make it Without You 2. Tori Kelly – Paper Hearts 3. Tove Lo – Moments 4. Tori Kelly – All In My Head 5. Tove Lo – This Time Around 6. Ed Sheeran – Sunburn 7. Andrew Belle – Wants What it Wants 8. PEACEKEEPER – Next To You 9. Tove Lo - Crave**

_I don't exactly feel lonely right now… or maybe I do? Whatever, this will do._ I slip my sunglasses on and start my run, deciding I'll stop when the playlist is over, or until I hurl.

_I should start lifting or doing some body weight training. Talia would love seeing me with abs… she's probably such a sexual person. After all, she did notice how aroused last night. Not to mention her pinning me to her car, that was…_

About twenty five minutes later, being driven by many sexual thoughts and using a technique to trick my brain into running easier; I end up walking down my street, feeling great and ready to take on the day. _Wow I really should have known about that technique before Spencer mention it._ Picking a spot and staring at it while I was running made things so much easier. Exhaustion - to me it feels refreshing when it's from a type of healthy violence. _This was definitely a good idea. I feel way better._

_Okay, I'm showered, shaved, eye shadowed, and shiny. Not too shabby, Emily… damn that would have sounded a bit cooler if my name started with SH..._ Looking in the mirror, I fix my makeup just a tad more, giving some brown eye shadow to my waterline. _Really not feeling this pimple right now… needs to fuck off._ As I add some foundation to cover the pimple on side of my neck, I hear my phone ringing from my room.

"OK." Glancing over myself one last time, I go pick up my cell.

"Emily Fields." I pronounce, sounding professional.

"That's different…" I hear Spencer's distinct, fluffy-croaked, oxymoron-like voice._ Ah, Spencer…actually I'd like to chat with Spence… chatting with her feels comfortable, and she's very mature. _

"Good morning Spence… yeah I know, I just never know when I could be getting a call from a university or work or something. I use this phone for everything so I don't want to the answer the phone with _haayoo_."

"Well you're clearly thinking about a bigger picture, that's great. Uhm.. sorry it's like eight thirty or something… I know you usually like to sleep a little longer on weekends, you need your rest, definitely. I just umm… I woke up at like five am and didn't go back to sleep, and I'm super stressed about Toby and I. I could really use a chat with you before Aria and Hannah meet up with us…" _She had a shitty morning too? Spence…_ Feeling upset, I can hear Spencer breathe heavily into the phone because she's out of breath from talking so fast. I walk down stairs to get some breakfast, which will probably be a sunny-side up with a piece of toast. Spencer then continues slower, trying to recollect herself; as she always tries to put up a façade I see right through as her best friend. "I know that this is all random, but you're way more understanding than Aria and Hannah when it comes to things about me personally… deep stuff gets uncomfortable with them. I haven't had a nice meaningful chat alone with you in a while and I could really use one. Aria and I can talk well, but she ends up making me feel terrible about something… and Hannah tries to pressure me to do things that make absolutely no sense. Sorry I probably sound pretty emotional right now. It's been a rough morning. And that damn text last night kept me up! I'm so over playing these games. I just… I want to visit Alison. I need to speak to her, Em… I know we had an agreement, but I have to get some sort of understanding of where she is, how she's restrained… who's seeing her…"

"Spence…" I sadly sigh then continue," Spence, you don't have to be sorry… at all, I had a rough morning too, so I can relate and we will talk about it, I'm glad you called me, I care about you probably more than I show.. Look I'll be over at your house in less than ten minutes okay? This is obviously something we should talk about in person… before I head over, one question. What text? You got a text last night? From _A_?"

I pull my phone away from my face and swipe down a media centre over top of my cell's call screen.

**1 New Message From: Blocked Number.**

**1 New Message From: Aria Montgomery.**

_Damnit… I totally forgot about it. Actually you know what, I'm happy. That just shows how much Talia distracted me and made me feel good. _"I didn't read the text… I knew I got one, but I said fuck it to myself last night and didn't feel like letting _A_ ruin my night for once. I didn't know if it was from _A_ or not but still… Kay, I'll be there soon, Spencer. Uhm… I'm making tea right now… want me to bring you some? It's herbal spiced chai…" I carry out the name of the tea, trying to make Spencer feel a little more relaxed by being playful.

Spencer snickers through the phone. "Yes. Yes I would love some spiced tea right now.. ugh.. oh god.. see you soon, thanks Em."

_"__You need to be more charming." Maya - what the fuck… that dream was messed up, but I guess she had a point. _I quickly think of how to say goodbye that will make Spencer smile. "Au revoir!"

All I hear is Spencer chuckle again and say, "wowwww nice," farther away from the phone, with a click, confirming the call ended.

"It _was_ nice. I know French. Pff."_ I'm glad I know how to make people laugh… I do honestly need to try to become one of those people that will just brighten others days with their attitude… Talia is so good at making someone smile…I love her attitude. _My heart swells a little thinking about her, and how well the date went the night before.

When the tea is ready I pour it into two travel mugs and devour the hot sunny-side up, slightly burning my tongue without caring. With this uncomfortable new sensation in my mouth, I get my purse and head out; keys in hand, starting my Toyota, I feel ready to take on this day.

**Geeeezzzz. I actually am really proud of this chapter. ****J****Things got deep, things got real, things got funny. You likey likey? You hatey hatey? So-ey so-ey? Meh-ey meh-ey?**

**No but really – people are more than just what you see. I love observing people and their thoughts. How do I observe thoughts? Well I guess I read minds ;)… no. Just – I love the aspect of different lives. I mean think about it – when you see a character on a show, you kinda just see what they act, and most of the time they are just a flat character.. but they are so much more! Even stars of shows can sometimes be flat – you think you know them so well… but no, nuh uh, you don't – you have to create the "realistics" of what they are. ****J**

**Have a lovely night! Follow, fave, and review!**

**Stay Strong, and Spread Strength. – Trev. (Confession – Trev is just a short of my middle name… but I think it's wanky so.. yeah. Peace.)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Making this a thing – 20****th**** reviewer gets a shout out! So, because this is so effing long… you better start reading! ;) Talk to you in the bottom A/N … Enjoy, beautiful.**

**Emily POV.**

"Spencer?" I call out, after I open the door that leads to Spencer's kitchen. _Shes probably gonna be a mess, though she's always beautiful. _"Spencer I'm here." I try calling out again.

"Coming!" I hear her screech from upstairs.

Setting my purse and the tea on the counter, I sit down at her breakfast bar design, and pull out my cell from my leather jacket pocket.

**Aria Montgomery: Hey Em, Hannah told me last night that you were stressed out and not doing well. Is that why you didn't meet up with us? I guess I'll see you later today, but take it easy alright? You're kind of the one keeping us grounded right now. Spencer is going haywire, and Hannah is freaking out because she doesn't want to get arrested… see you around noon? **_**8:10am**_

**Blocked Number: A rogue cop, a bin of sin, a doomed romance, and… college. Those things shouldn't go together, should they? – A**

Feeling a little shocked, I blurt out silently "The fuck is that supposed to mean..?" in pure confusion._ Is A thinking of tying a web? Toby isn't rogue… well… and the bin? Is Mona's body really in there…? Doomed romance my ass… I won't let A fuck this up. Talia will be able to fight back… I hope she will, I hope she wants to… college, yeah. College… shit. I really need to send out more letters. I don't have enough money saved up yet, but I'm definitely getting there… though I don't know what I want to even study. Damn it this text is actually making me pissed, I get why Spencer is so-_

"Hi Em," Spencer puts her hand on my shoulder, startling me, "whoa sorry… didn't mean to frighten you."

"Don't worry… I just read the text from last night; it made me upset and I got lost in thought."

"Upset isn't a good word for that text." Spencer says raising an eyebrow and chuckling slightly with discomfort. She moves around the counter and grabs the other travel mug. "Thanks, again…" She says looking down at the mug, obviously trying to find words._ She looks so depressed… I probably do too but I haven't seen her this vulnerable since she was in Radley._ Spencer has a black long sleeve wool shirt on with the only two gold buttons undone at the top. Her hair is up in a loose bun and she looks tired.

"Spence, just speak… just start talking about how you feel. You don't need to put a wall up. Just talk, really." I state slow and sincerely, making sure she feels safe.

She grabs a chair to sit on across the counter, and then props her head up by her neck with her elbow. "Phew… alright." She smiles slightly making eye contact with me, then looks back down at her mug. "Uhmm… well first of all that text. I don't really get it at all. It's why I want to go visit Alison… cause who… One, who could be sending it… Two, who's watching us… Three, I just have so many questions for Alison, Em… it's ridiculous."

"I get it… you're a sleuth, you need answers. So am I, and that's why I would be happy to go with you."

"Really…? You want to visit Alison?"

_Buzz buzz._ "Um.. I do. It's been bugging me quite a lot. Too much."

Spencer looks curious. "Aren't you going to answer that?" She asks about my phone.

"It can wait Spence…"

"It might be A though…"_ Spencer's right._

Unlocking my phone I immediately smile.

**Unknown Number: Good morning cutie. It's Talia… I got your number from Ezra. I had a blast last night. I know this may seem like a little much but I was wondering if I could grab you for lunch today? **_**9:25am**_

As I grin, Spencer perceives that the text is not from _A_. "Okay so that isn't a threatening text. At all… Who is it?"

_Shit I really don't want to talk about her to my friends right now… not yet. I sort of have to though._ "Umm.." Now I'm blushing and don't know how to explain this to Spencer.

"Come on Em spill it. I actually would love to hear something positive right now." She pleads and then sips her tea.

"Okay… well you know that chef that sta-"

"Talia?" Spencer gawks her head out, lucky to have swallowed her tea before I started speaking.

"Yes...-"

"She's gay…?" Normally Spencer is not the type to cut someone off, but she evidently is extremely surprised.

"Spence, I didn't even say anything. You can't jump to conclusions, okay?. How on earth would you know if she's-"

"Emily you obviously like her."

I think for a few seconds and knowingly sigh at Spencer. She knows me more than I thought. "It's her… shouldn't we be talking about when we're gonna visit Alison in jail right now, though?"

"No." Spencer just smirks and motions her hands for me to continue talking, obviously about Talia. I just stare at her with my teeth gritted together, then bite my lip while exhaling. "Elaborate, Emily."

Partially smiling, I decide to explain myself. "She told me she was into me last night.. so after explaining some things to her through Jonny's device thing, we kissed… or actually I guess made out." _So flustered right now._ "Then I asked her out on a date, and we went to that cute Italian restaurant… We had wine because the hostess thought we were married… and honestly it must have been the best date I've been on. You have no idea how.."

"Giddy she makes you? Yeah, I can tell. Wow. I know you probably don't want me asking… but I ask out of concern.. are you over Paige? I mean…"

"No… I'm not. But I don't care. Paige told me when she left that maybe we were supposed to part ways for a reason. I definitely miss Paige… and I don't think I'll get over the fact she just _left…_" I pause to collect my words as it slightly hurts to talk about her. "But… I heard from somewhere once that if you have such a strong connection to someone right away – you can't pass it up. I really feel.. I just really fucking like her Spence. She makes me feel like I'm the only person in the room… you know? I don't know what else to tell you… other than this text, she wants to meet up for lunch."

"Tell her you can't, but you can for dinner?"

"Mmm.. Okay. Good idea." Now beaming, I type a reply into my phone, knowing Spencer is watching my every move. I decide to make Talia's contact just a simple heart, so if anyone does end up reading over my shoulder, no one will know who I'm texting. _I'm just so secretive about everything aren't I…?_

**To 3: Goodmorning to you too, beautiful… I can't for lunch. But I can for dinner…? **_**9:29am**_

"Damn, aren't you cute? I hope she's good for you, Em."

I smile thankfully at Spencer. "I know she is… so anyway, Alison. When? Should we tell the other girls?"

"No… well we could but let's not. Um… Hannah didn't tell us when she visited, So it doesn't really matter. And I don't know when… definitely sometime this week …after school." She says this all while staring at her tea, without moving her eyes even once. "By the way you still don't know what happened last night. We found out that Mike has been seeing Alison, himself. And he's been acting suspicious… Aria tried speaking to him, but we don't think it's useful. At all. We have to figure out what he is up to. He's obviously going to visit her again." Now tapping a beat on the counter, that could go along to _I Kissed A Girl, _Spencer looks up at me, waiting for my reply.

"Why would… okay this might sound insane – but Mike visiting Alison doesn't make sense. Maybe it would if he just wants to get at her, yell at her. But no one would let him in there if he was just there to throw a fit at her. Shit this is bad… okay, I'm going to call Aria, you call Hannah to meet up with-"

_Buzz buzz. _Holding my phone I sigh._ Talia… I'm in such a mess right now. _

I continue with a much more depressed tone. "Let's call them to meet up with us at eleven at The Grille."

"Why are you all of a sudden really upset looking…?" Spencer questions as she looks concerned.

"Spence, our lives are so fucked up. You know that. I don't know if it will be right to drag her into things…"

"Oookaaay no. You're not even thinking that this is going to ruin your chance with Talia. She's an understanding, mature woman. She isn't going to run off. In fact I would sit her down tonight, and explain everything."

"You're crazy… I can't just tell her everything."

"Okay not everything… but tell her what you think is important. I honestly couldn't care less if she knows about A and everything. As long as you know she isn't the type to go rushing to the cops and do a Paige move… sorry I know that was dumb to say. I shouldn't have said it, but I don't regret it. It really pissed me off when Paige did that."

"Yeah – it pissed me off too. It was because she loved me though… but it was stupid to not care about what would happen to Alison… anyway. Okay. I'll tell Talia some stuff tonight, if she can even meet up." _Well that just got to me more than I hoped… Paige really did piss me off. But then again… she was fucking right. Alison is in jail right now… she's A. She has to be. Or she is at least a part of the A team? Paige could tell that Alison was trouble… so whatever, I forgive her for telling the cops that Alison is alive. That was so long ago anyway._

Spencer struts out of the kitchen to phone Aria while calling out "I'll call Hannah too – you text your wife!"

I laugh loudly, appreciating Spencer's now uplifting mood. "Sounds good!"

Left alone with my thoughts, I come to an agreement with myself. _Spencer is totally right… I can't put off not telling her. Then if she accidently finds out that I have a psycho killer trying to torture my life… she'll be more than mad I didn't tell her. I have no idea what she would do… or what she is going to do when she realizes my situation._

**3: Sounds like a plan. Can I pick you up at 5ish from your house? **_**9:34am**_

I quickly reply back to her, feeling excited but nervous.

**To 3: It **_**is**_** a plan. ;) Yes, 5 at my place. Where are we going though? **_**9:34am**_

**3: I'll bring you to my new place. I just moved into a new apartment… I could use some help setting up my furniture ;P See you then.. xo **_**9:34am**_

**To 3: Oh? Okay. xo see you ;) **_**9:35am**_

_Huh… she didn't mention she was moving._

"Em…"_ This doesn't sound good._

"Yeah Spence…?" I say as Spencer sits beside me on a barstool looking worried, staring straight in my eyes.

"Aria says that Mike visited Alison again this morning, already. Somethings up."

"Great…" _Wow this morning has been quite a lot to take in._

"We need to go now." Spencer claims while getting up to get her keys. "We'll take my car."

"What? Why?"

"Aria is freaking out and wants us at her house by ten. She tried talking to Mike this morning to figure out why he is seeing Alison again… he basically pushed her against a wall and stormed out, because she was in his way of the door; and she says she's bruised badly on her hip because it was against a table… I don't know but I'm worried." She rushes out, and then finishes her tea while grabbing a bagel.

"What the hell? Mike… he seriously needs a reality check. I wish he hadn't gotten so big. I would have tried to scare the shit out of him for laying a hand on Aria… Fuck, let's go."

Spencer holds the door open for me. "Yeah, get ready for a long day – this could get interesting… You've had a sailor's mouth recently." She devilishly smirks. "It's a nice change."

**Talia POV.**

_I guess tonight is the night I tell her. How the hell am I going to explain this to her without her flipping out before I can finish? _I continue questioning myself, while stretching my hands to my feet after putting down one of the last boxes from my car. My whole day has consisted of traveling in my car back and forth from Eric's, getting furniture, nick-knacks, and the fact that Eric had to jumpstart my car on the last trip home because the battery faltered, today has been a successful day so far. _Home… this is home now._ Glancing at the clock on my oven, I realize I need to clean up before I have to pick up Emily. _Shit it's already past three thirty?! I need to get a watch… jesus._ I look around my now almost full apartment and realize it's a complete disaster. _Kay she isn't going to care, she knows I just moved. _To the right of the entrance I have a small kitchen counter with two bar stools, and across from that opens up to my living room. I slowly walk over to the loveseat that's in the middle of my apartment, feeling the tan fabric as I saunter behind it. _I should have a shower and change I guess._ Walking past the couch I hear a ding in my back pocket.

**Em: Hey… so I'm actually not at my house right now, and I probably won't end up getting home. I would have offered to drive to your place, but I'm downtown. **_**3:45pm**_

**To Em: That's okay, I'll still pick you up **** why are you downtown if you don't mind me asking? **_**3:45pm**_

_That was probably stupid to ask… Why have I been so impulsive lately? Is it because of Emily? Making me all flustered? Probably._ Undoing my top as I turn the shower head on, I get out my favorite hoodie – a cream colored pullover with a grey square design on the front; as well as black skinny jeans, from a cardboard box. I hop in the shower for five minutes, just washing my body as my hair was washed earlier in the morning. As soon as I put a towel on to dry off my body, I check my phone.

**Em: I was about to text you "My friends and I went shopping." But Talia, I want to be completely honest with you. I really like you. Umm can you call me, actually? **_**3:53pm**_

_Huh… okay._ Smiling, but confused, I change into my clothes I laid out. _She was going to lie to me? Why would she bother? I'm just going to call her… I don't need to assume things._

After one ring Emily picks up sounding not very relaxed, at all. "Talia..?"

"Hi gorgeous…?"

"Talia… I'm sorry this is kind of weird and all out of the blue. I'm downtown at Rosewood mall. My friend Spencer dropped me off not too long ago here, because I didn't want to go home and she had to be somewhere. Uhm.."

"Okay… are you alright? You sound uneasy…" I ask, growing more worried as she continues.

"I guess you could say I'm a tad hurt, physically. That's why I didn't go home because my mother is there and I can't have her questioning me… I-"

"Hurt?"_ The hell? I'm going to go get her now. _I find my ear buds and plug them into my phone, then listen to her while I get my keys and put socks on.

"Yes… try not to assume things. I'm okay, just bruised my back... I'm going to explain everything to you later. I want to talk in person."

"I'll come pick you up right now… I'll be no longer than fifteen minutes. And trust me, I am not going to assume things. I'm not that type of person. I do however don't get why your friend left you?" As I roll my hoodie's sleeves up past my elbows, I slip on my 2 inch leather boots that stop above my ankle, and kneel down to tie them up.

"She had to get to my friend Hannah, she's in a crisis. I didn't go with her… because I honestly just want to see you right now; I also needed a breather so I got myself a coffee. I'm currently sitting outside of Starbucks… Again, I'm sorry. I probably seem really-"

"Neurotic?"

Emily laughs, knowing that I said that when she was upset and kept apologizing; the night I told her I was interested in her. "Yes… Talia, Neurotic." I can hear her tone softening up.

"Emily, I said that just to make you smile, by the way… but you don't need to keep apologizing – or explain yourself – or try to dumb down how you feel – when I said that I'm here for you, I meant it." After explaining that to her, I am now walking out of the lobby into the parking lot.

"Thank you Talia… you have no idea how much that means to me."

"You're welcome… I'm getting in the car. I'll see you in ten."

"Okay gorgeous, ten minutes." She hangs up. "_Okay gorgeous, three minutes."_ Hearing that parallel in my ears made my heart flutter, flashing back to how it feels to kiss her.I hang up and start the car, trying to be as hopeful as I can be that my vehicle doesn't die on me again.

Saying I'm worried is partially and understatement, as I focus my eyes on the road. _She's hurt… bruised… damn it I should have brought ice. I don't really know what to think of this. I just have to be totally supportive of her. She needs to know she has a safety net… I want to be her safety net._ I turn on my Bon Iver CD, trying to relax a little. The weather isn't helping my mood, because I hate when it looks like it is going to rain – but doesn't. _Emotions can't get the best of me right now… maybe I shouldn't tell her about Eric tonight… fuck._

I pull up to the front of Rosewood Mall not really knowing where Emily is, so I decide to call her.

"Emily?"

"Yeah I see you, you just pulled up in front of Future Shop - I'm down the side walk." She hangs up.

I get out of the vehicle and see the girl I'm so giddy over walking towards me. I note she is wearing her leather jacket that I know she loves, as well as black high-tops, ripped light jeans, and aviator sunglasses. She reaches me and I hold my arms out for a hug. "Talia, thank you for coming to get me." She says into my neck, as I hold her head and upper back.

"Don't worry about it, Em." I tell her, trying to make sure I don't squeeze her too tight, because I don't know how badly she's hurt.

"I know you're probably wondering how bad I'm hurt. Let's get to your place first though…" Emily wraps her arms around my neck and then smiles slightly. "Come here though." She breathes out looking at me with adoration, gesturing for me to kiss her.

"Of course." I whisper, as I take Emily's cheek into my left hand. She leans into me, so I open my mouth ever so slightly, not wanting to only give her a peck, because she needs comfort – and frankly, I do too. I can tell she loves it because her body instantly relaxes into mine. I lean back into her, as this kiss feels like it's the first one. "Let me take you to my new home, I want to get ice on your bruise."

Emily kisses me one last time while almost beaming. "I'm so happy to see you… okay, let's go."

We get into my car and I turn the ignition, but we hear it die out. "Uhm…" I try again and fortunately it starts. "Wow, phew. Sorry my car… it needs to go. I need to get a new one."

"Maybe I can help you pick one, sometime?"

"I'd like that." I reply looking at her contently, after I pull out of the mall's parking lot.

"By the way, you haven't called me Em before a few seconds ago." She says, adjusting her sunglasses.

"Really? It just happened naturally, I didn't think about it."

"Yeah… do you have any nicknames? I was thinking of this earlier today… all I could think of was Tal. Even though that just sounds like I'm saying "tall".. which is kinda cool actually." I listen to her, glad she is making light conversation.

_Tal.. Tali. _"No one has ever really called me by nicknames, ever. People have a hard time just saying my name right, actually. They all say tay-lee-ah or tah-lee-ah."

"Well, _Taw-lee-ah,_" Emily exaggerates, showing she knows how to say my name, "I think I might switch around. Tali, Tal, T," she then snickers softly through her nose "Sandy, Oval." _Ohhh she didn't just…_

"Nope. You're not calling me Sandy. Ever."

"Umm..?" Emily questions with her voice.

"People called me Sandy when I was young because I had beaver teeth at one point, and yeah… Sponge-Bob."

"What the fuck," she whispers "I didn't even connect that. People made fun of you?" Emily asks sounding sad.

"A little more than just calling me Sandy, but yeah… anyway. You're being a dork right now… trying to come up with a nickname for me. You were thinking about this earlier today? You think about me? I'm _flattered._" Playing with her I know she knows I'm trying to be light-hearted - even though right now all I can think about is how badly she is injured. _Literally I can sense she's in more pain than she is leading on. Emily…_

"Of course I'm thinking about you, last night was amazing. Okay, I know you may think you have this wall of coolness up, but I see right past you. You're a dork too." Emily states. I just grin at her at a stop light. She smirks behind her shades knowing she's right, leaning back into her seat while placing her hand on mine. "This music is great."

"Yes."

"Is it Bon Iver? I can't tell."

"It is; good guess." I smile, loving that she likes the same music as me.

We reach my apartment and Emily very slowly tries to get out of the vehicle, still sitting on the seat after I get out and walk around to take her hand. "Em…"

"Let's just get inside, I know your worried and don't understand. Bare with me."

"Okay." _I hate seeing her in any sort of pain… damn am I already falling for this woman? _

We reach my door and I pull out my keys. "Fourth floor? You must have a good view."

"Yeah it is pretty nice. Warning, everything is a mess."

"It's okay. I assumed it would be."

I open the door and lead her in, helping her take off her leather jacket revealing a black long sleeved base-ball shirt underneath. "Kay, ice?"

"Yes, thank you." Emily says as she walks left from the entrance, going over to the loveseat that faces the outside brick wall. "I love this place already. You definitely have a nice view of the police station. That's amusing."

"All I have are peas… that okay? I say from behind the counter reaching into the freezer."

"Anything works… sooo gorgeous, come here." Emily breathes with a worried expression.

Walking on over to her I sit down while wrapping a cloth around the pea's. "Okay, I'm here."

Emily just smiles at me sighing. "Relax. I don't want you super stressed… we have a lot to talk about… uhm… I guess I'll show you my back."

"Alright..."

She shifts her weight so her back is facing me and lifts up her shirt to reveal a swelled purple splotch that's about an Iphone 5's length in diameter - above two cute little indents at the bottom of her spine._ That looks incredibly painful… _"Emily. What the hell did this…" I say losing my breath.

"Wow is it really _that_ bad looking?" She laughs out, teeth gritted.

"Umm… yeah. You don't feel light headed, or like… okay here's the peas."

Handing her the peas, she turns around. "Kay… Talia I'll explain to you what happened today, then I'll explain why this happened… sound good?"

All I do is nod, not knowing what to think or feel, being completely confused.

"So… today I went down south a bit, not to downtown… but to a forest area. I don't even know where we were… with two of my friends." I get up and go around to her side of the couch, lifting a lever to extend her legs; so she can sit easier with the peas she is holding on her back. Then I sit back down remaining absolutely quiet, expressing for her to go on. Emily takes my right hand as I adjust to lean my left arm against the couch. "Thanks… so we went down there to follow my friend's brother. Her name is Aria. While you know the other friend was Spencer… We got there and he was meeting up with a guy… uhm. We don't know why still. Spencer is currently trying to figure that out… but the dude that he was meeting – his name is Cyrus. They met in a really random restaurant."

"Kay…"_ Sounds like I need to remember information… is this a big… puzzle?_

"Cyrus, ended up running into us on his motorcycle. So - because I was full of bravery," Emily says sarcastically "I tried grabbing onto him; not letting him go – because we needed to basically question him… we know he has something. He ended up pushing my face very roughly… then he drove while I was still holding onto him and I fell backwards on a rock… but uh… please don't freak out, um…"

Emily takes her aviators off, sniffling. I right away see her eye is swollen. "Em… that's not roughly pushing you. He punched you didn't he?"

"Yeah… maybe, I don't really know. It happened too fast." Now seeing Emily's bloodshot eyes, my heart aches._ This is so fucked up…_

"Do you want some aspirin? You probably have a headache."

"That would probably be a good idea… Talia you're being so great about this. Thanks."

I get up and find some aspirin and pour some lemonade for both of us._ I know I'm being good about this, but if she doesn't have a good explanation for everything… I just don't understand._

"Emily," I walk back over taking the peas and handing her the pill and beverage I'm holding, "I'm just going to listen for the next… however long this takes to explain why… I don't even know."

"Okay… How long have you lived here, Talia?"

"Uhm… well four years, since I was in university; I did however used to live here when I was in high school. So really I have lived here since I was three, with about a year of break when I turned twenty… then came back."

"So that means you were here when Alison DiLaurentis went missing?"

"Yeah I heard all about that… I decided to not care, and that's when I went and focused on culinary school. But now she's… in jail or something…?" I shake my head questioning, eyes furrowed, not understanding where this is going. "Which I absolutely don't understand..."

"Well, there was a group of us, all friends. Aria, Hannah, Spencer, Me… and Alison… uhm… Alison liked being a bitch to many people, even everyone in the friend circle, but she was nicest to me, because she knew I had a crush on her… When she _died… _she really just faked her death. But someone else was actually killed, and her name is Bethany Young who was in Radley…"

"What… ok."_Holy shit?_

"I'll try to make this as quick as possible… but basically ever since Bethany died, which back then we thought it was Alison… my friends and I started getting these texts… then they turned into full on threats… blackmailing us. We couldn't go to the police, and still can't. I've… had to do a lot of things that are not… they aren't good." Emily is looking very uneasy.

"Emily… wait. When was the last time you had to explain this to someone? You can take your time… this is… more than I thought.. I mean I'm…"

"Probably over a year ago… I don't know. But I haven't had to explain it _all_ to someone because they ended up not wanting to listen. It doesn't make sense… I know." Emily starts sounding emotional and it tugs at my heart.

"I'm listening, go on." I move closer to her, resting my hand on her thigh for comfort.

"The person sending these texts are called _A_… though there must be multiple people now. There is someone in charge, controlling the army. The reason it all started was because someone hated Alison so much they wanted her gone, or at least that's what we used to think – it was something to do with love, revenge… I don't know, but then while Alison was on the run someone started coming after us, torturing us. I still to this day have no idea why they came after us… some… twisted psycho. Well actually, we knew who came after us and why… this is so confusing. Basically the "game" was taken from the original _A_… but even the original _A_ isn't original? Sorry if you're not getting this. Anyway, still not knowing if _A_ had anything to do with this; but my first girlfriend was murdered… in fact two cops have died, Spencer's sister, Melissa… her fiancé was killed. I know this is a lot…"

_People killed… blackmail… I should be totally overwhelmed right now – but I'm not… I'm strong. Just soak it all in, Talia. _"If you think I'm overwhelmed, I'm not." My eyes start swelling up, in ache for Emily. "What I don't know is the right thing to say. I don't think there is a right thing to say… Emily you don't have to explain it all tonight. It's obviously a long story. I do want to understand what's going on now… past is past, but I can tell that you haven't had anyone to really vent your feelings to about what has happened… and I want to know the other things too… I just don't want this to all be too much in one night."

Emily nods at me with a passionate look in her eyes. "Talia… I want to say I'm telling you all this because it's now or never. I realize that we had our first date last night… but it felt like our hundredth…. to me. I don't want to keep secrets from you. Secrets have never helped me in the past. For all I know, _A_ might have tried telling you before I could; that I'm… trouble. That I'm not worth it to get involved with."

_Does love at first sight exist…? Is this random to be thinking about right now? _"I understand what you mean, it did to me as well… but you aren't trouble, Emily. And that perfectly makes sense. If this, _A…_ told me something without you telling me first, it _would_ probably look bad. But you're doing the right thing, telling me now rather than later." Looking at her, I warmly smile, trying to make sure she doesn't think I'm freaked out. Though, it is frightening that she is in danger.

"I'm not going to scare you off?"

"Something that you're going through isn't going to scare me off – in fact it's making me want to help you in any way I can… I'm much stronger than people think, emotionally, and physically even. I think… I know you're worth it."

"Okay." Is all she can get out, her eyes are now fully brimmed with water.

"Crying is just an emotion, it's natural… you don't have to hold it back," I reach for the peas and place it on her eye, "you do need to keep this on their though, gorgeous."

Emily chuckles letting some tears fall, sniffing. "Okay."

"Now… what's happening now? Within the past week or so."

"Well also someone else, her name is Mona… she died too, about three months ago." I nod, not surprised there is another death. "She originally was part of the A team but then became our friend… I think. She's the original A… She's the reason Alison is in jail, because there was enough proof to say that Alison killed her."

"Do you think Alison killed her?"

"I… don't want to answer, because I don't know… There is proof. But I honestly couldn't tell you with one-hundred percent... we all think that Alison might be an _A_… but she can't be the one in control. It wouldn't make sense." Emily pauses for a few seconds. "Mona's dead, but her body was never found. However, we found a storage unit that had a barrel in it… which we think she might be in there. But now the cops have cleared it out…"

"You said texts… _A_ sends you texts? What was the last one you got?"

"It was last night, here." Emily pulls out her phone and shows me the text.

**Blocked Number: A rogue cop, a bin of sin, a doomed romance, and… college. Those things shouldn't go together, should they? – A**

_Doomed romance…_ "Is that supposed to be specifically for you?"

"No, all the girls got this one… except sometimes _A_ has tried to pick at us one by one."

"Is doomed romance…about us? When did you get this exactly?"

She looks at me concerned. "When we were on our date… but I was having such a good time with you I decided not to look at it until this morning… yeah, a doomed romance. _A_ has messed with many of my relationships in the past…uhm.. Talia. I have to warn you…"

"What is it…"

"This is going to… you have two options right now. And I have to give you this decision." Emily wipes away some excess tears and takes my hand with both of hers. "_A _might… come after you, if you keep seeing me. And that's another reason why I didn't know if I was going to tell you… and that's why this is now or never."

"Oh…"_ I knew that this whole situation was dangerous, and that being around Emily could be dangerous…but… _"You mean just because _A_ hates you they might separately come at me?"

"Talia…"

**Emily POV.**

_She looks scared… She can't, not be scared right now. She must be terrified… this wasn't fair to do to her… _

"Em."

_Huh…_ "Yes..?"

Talia leans in to kiss me, and we hold our lips against each others for a few moments. Then we slightly pull apart with our noses grazing against one another. Talia decides to whisper with complete ardor. "Emily… I'm here. That's it. I'm not gonna run off... Though, I do have something I've been wanting to tell you that I believe you should know – and I originally was scared to tell you - but now I know you're going to understand." She leans back taking both my hands.

_If she accepts me for my life, how could I reject hers? _I take a deep breath in and out. "Okay, Tal…" I then comfort.

"The reason I moved here to this new place… is because I just moved out of my… husbands house… technically, I'm still married. But we aren't together…"

_That's… interesting. Kind of complicated… but not as complicated as A. "_Have you… just not gotten a divorce? May I ask why you… split?"

"Yeah… we just haven't gotten around to it… We actually stopped saying we were together way before I got the job from Ezra… Yesterday is when I moved out, though. He and I are best friends… he actually hopes that things work out between you and I… I dated him on and off again since ninth grade… we got married when I quit university. I was in a terrible place… he was the only one there for me… And I didn't want to be alone… to be lonely."

I play with her fingers. "Was that scary to tell me?"

"A little… but you explaining some of your story first, made mine seem… not as, dramatic. His name s Eric by the way… He understands completely that I want to be with a woman. He's always known I've liked women more than men…"

_Married… so in the eyes of the government she's taken? Big deal… but I… I do want her to be mine. Is this the right time to ask her? Would it be… stupid? Impulsive? I mean we both-_

"Em… it's almost five… are you hungry?" Talia cuts off my thoughts with the mention of food.

_Starving._ "I haven't eaten since breakfast… so yes."

"Oh my… Okay. Let's make dinner." Talia gets up, walking over to the kitchen. She gets out an oven pan. "Babe you need to eat more,_" Babe._ "I've noticed that.. you.. haven't.." Talia now looks up from what she's doing, looking at me with an unrecognizable expression. She just stands there, smugly embarrassed, so I get up stiffly and walk over to her. Talia rests her elbows on the counter and puts her head into her hands, blushing. _Oh she knows what she just did. _Leaning down across from her on the counter, mimicking her height, I lift her head up with one finger.

Slightly gritting my teeth, amused, I tell her. "I know… I know _babe_, I know." Talia licks her lips once, bites them, and then snickers softly. "Caught." I say.

"You… I'm. I don't…" Talia stutters out, not really knowing how to handle the situation. She takes a long look at me, our faces inches from each other. My hand still under her chin, I look at her lips smiling, but then I see her looking at my swollen eye, while then touches the other one, wiping away some running mascara. "You know… even like this you're beautiful. But, do you want to wash off your make-up? It might just end up irritating your eye, and you don't need it anyway… also you need peas, hun."

_She cares so much about me… I haven't felt so loved so quickly by someone, ever. _"Okay, where's your washroom? That's a good idea."

"Just the door on the left in the corner, there is some makeup remover in there on the counter. I'll start dinner, why don't you wash up?"

I smile, and almost think it's a good idea to wink at her, but my winking eye hurts too much to close quickly. My eye isn't a black eye, but more of my eyebrow and eyelid is swollen, so it hurts every time I blink.

Feeling a little refreshed after washing up, I come back to the kitchen to find Talia bending down, putting a pan of premade chicken samosas in the oven. I decide to go right behind her as she bends up. _That was a sight… should I put my arms around her? Why the fuck not?_ Snaking my arms around her waist, I put my head on her left shoulder, as she relaxes into me. "Mmmm. Hello. Feeling a little refreshed?"

"Most definitely," I say into her ear quietly, "thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?"

"For not being… insane. I don't know… running off and telling the cops? For not telling me I'm crazy myself?"

"You're not crazy." She turns around putting her arms over my shoulders. "I'm gonna go along with this however you think will be best. I do however… I'm scared for your safety."

"Well, right now _A_ doesn't want to hurt me anymore… they just want me emotionally tortured."

"Okay… well I'll be your rock, then." Talia squeezes me a little tighter, but not enough to hurt my back.

"Deal."

"Alright so I have 4 samosas going… have green beans out to be cooked in water. I figured you want to eat soon so I didn't want to make anything fancy."

"That's perfectly fine." I pull her into a hug. "Are you stressed?"

"Honestly, yes; and I have a little secret… um… you don't care if I smoke, do you? I barely do – it's when I'm stressed I do… like right now."

"Want to go out on your deck and have one? We have to wait a few minutes anyway." I reply, acting like its nothing so she knows I'm not disgusted or anything.I know people can get really insecure by telling someone they smoke.

"Wow, you really don't care do you?"

"Well, of course I do for your health… but I used to smoke weed… sometimes I still do… so really, a cigarette means nothing. And it's not like you're smoking everyday."

"Oh really…?" Talia questions playfully, sauntering over to her purse pulling out a smoke pack. "You smoke weed? How did that start?"

_Not that I want to talk about Maya right now… it isn't a negative thing to talk about._ "Well, Maya gave me my first joint… I never was nor will ever be a stoner, but I do love it every once in a while. It's just like drinking to me – except I feel way more in control and relaxed. I don't become an idiot that ends up helping her enemy dig a grave…"

Talia raises an eyebrow. "Maybe the grave digging story is for another time to tell… but huh. That's interesting." She opens the sliding door for me. "I don't smoke weed regularly, but yeah it's kind of just like having a glass of wine for me. I know some people can't handle a whole bunch, but everyone is different."

_Oh I see… damn I really like this woman. She's not gonna be scared of "crazy" things… Exciting; oh she really shouldn't have got herself involved with me._ As I sit down on a mini outdoor couch on Talia's deck, she closes the door. _She really doesn't know me._ I know I'm the type of girl who wants adventure; and that means really whatever comes my way.

"Emily…"

"Yes?"

"Never mind I'll just stand"

I realize I am taking up the whole couch. "Oh sorry, no no. Come here." I squeeze to the end of the surprisingly comfortable couch and stretch my arm around the back. Talia leans her head against my shoulder while putting her legs overtop of mine, resting her weight on the little space left of the couch.

"So you don't care at all – like it won't bother you that I'll be brea-"

"Honey I don't give a shit." I laugh. "In fact give me a few puffs so atleast when I kiss you it's not a foreign taste."

"Oh, you plan on kissing me. I see." Talia laughs slightly, close to my neck, sending some goose bumps throughout my body.

"You betcha'."

Talia rips off the end of the cigarette and puts it in an ashtray on a little side table. "Can you light it for me?" She says while holding it in her mouth, passing me the lighter to my right arm which is around her.

"Sure, just why did you like..-"

"I knew you would be wondering… It makes me… blah. There is glue on the end of all cigarettes. It's gross."

"Oh, okay." Is all I say giggling. I flick the lighter and she inhales and breathes it out away from me.

"So Miss Emily Fields… tell me more about yourself."

"My favorite color is burple. I am scared of horses… and my birthday is November 20th. Your turn." I smile at her even though she can't see me staring at her eyes, lips and nose, being illuminated by the dusk that is starting to hit us.

"Wait… burple? And you can't hate horses. I love them. I used to ride when I was in middle school."

"It's a mix between purple and blue… it's a sexy color. And well… I'll watch you ride if that ever comes up…"

"Noted." Talia passes me the cigarette. "Don't you like adventure? I'm making you ride sometime… but anywa-"

The fumes go into my lungs and I immediately start coughing abruptly. "The…Uhm." _Oh this is embarrassing._ Still coughing I pass her back the cigarette.

"Emily…" Talia takes her weight off me and turns to look at me.

I regain myself a bit. "Yeah." I manage to get out. "Sorry."

"Have you ever had a cigarette?"

"Once, but not a full one, two years ago I was at a party with an old boyfriend of mine and he pressured me into trying it. That's so much different than inhaling weed though... " I pronounce as I cough once more.

"Yeah..." Talia's now smirking at me with a mischievous look, and I know she's laughing at me inside.

"You're not laughing at me are you…?"

"God no, of course not. I'm glad you don't smoke cigarettes regularly. It's just really cute when you cough."

"How on earth is it _cute_."

"Because your nose scrunches up, you look like you're dying of laughter, and you grin… and I love it when you grin." _How does she even pick that up… huh? Like what? Wow I totally forgot I'm not wearing makeup right now… now I feel a little insecure. Should I? I mean…_

"Em… here. Just don't inhale too much and don't hold it in long, at all. It's not meant to get you buzzed. Maybe a calming head rush, but that's it." Talia holds the cigarette to my mouth and I try inhaling again, this time not coughing.

"Nobody has ever told me not to hold it in…" I say after exhaling.

"Well alright then…" She smugly smiles.

The sun is almost now set and there is a lovely glow behind the trees. Not pink, but a deep orange. Talia is looking at the clouds and I'm just staring at her. Her legs are still on top of mine, but my arms no longer around her; we adjusted so our heads could both lean back atop the couch head, at the same eye level. Admiring her, trying to take in her details, I take note of many little things... her eye shape, not hooded, but romantically slanted; her lovely defined collar bone that I can barely see through her hoodie's neckline; the cutest birthmark, diagonally left from her left eye; her small dimple that only indents when she specifically smirks a certain way. _She so uniquely beautiful. _I realize I'm slightly aroused with lust when she moves; her left leg is hanging off the couch, and her right leg above it is up and turned for her knee to be across my thighs.

After a few moments of taking in this new position, I carefully pronounce, "Talia."

She turns looking at me directly, without saying anything; it burns my insides, because it leaves me speechless as well – her, responding to me while looking ever so loving. I just look in her deep brown eyes as they search mine. Her chest heaves once, and then she gives in to the silence. "Will you be my girlfriend, Emily…?"

_She really had to beat me to it didn't she? Yes. Evidently, the answers yes. Why does she even have to ask? Really?_ I debate on answering… but then I realize I want to see how she handles waiting. So, I don't say anything for a good ten seconds. Just smiling at her, but not at her eyes; her lips, her neck, and her dimple – because she is most definitely smirking that _certain_ way right now.

"Em…? I'm really confused. Can you talk?" She asks cautiously.

I wait a few more seconds and decide to slowly lean my face towards hers, without a kiss; though, our lips _are_ almost touching with our mouths slightly hanging open - which is making me even hotter. Noses brushing against each others, I pretend to go in for a kiss then pull away, grinning with all my teeth. Very amused with how much this is teasing her, I quietly put my left hand around her curves. Her breath barely hitches, and I can tell she is also becoming aroused with this anticipation. I drag my lip carefully up against her bottom one once, just to take in how much she loves this; she does. She smiles widely, so I kiss her harshly; and all the breath she was holding releases with relief. She pushes me back once and I break our lips apart enough for me to murmur two words against her lips. "With pleasure." This simple answer leaves Talia with nothing to say; she instead has a lot alliterating to tell with her hands and mouth. She sneaks her hand onto my thigh, daringly close to where I'm now aching. Then, all while kissing fervently; she decides to move up and straddle my hips, holding onto my jaw with both of her hands. I grab onto her curves, moving my own hands up and down her ribs, to her hips, to her thighs and back up. This makes Talia's breathing _stutter_ into my mouth, and I can't help but do it again. Without warning, she dips her tongue through my lips and I accept it, sucking on it, deciding to not let go – because I love it _too_ much. I love making her tongue mine. I release it once, only to pull it back in, becoming extremely in love with her taste; how our mouths mold together as two fires combing. She loudly moans close-mouthed, because of the almost _violent_ suction I am now providing. She tenses up on top of me, moaning again when I let it go - this time only slowly; while letting my lips softly drag around it. Talia breathes in a gasp with struggle, and then slowly releases her breath while holding her forehead to mine, trying to calm down. I kiss her softly once more; surprised I'm able to control myself so well, even though I'm trembling, basically _shaking_ below her.

"Em… wow." _I know… you make me feel incredible, too._

"I know…" Is all I can breathe out; because everything else I want to say is just going to turn her on more, and I've teased her more than enough.

After a few moments of us trying to even out our breathing, Talia almost inaudibly states, "Emily… our…uhm… though you have no idea how _fucking_ hot you're making me," she stutters out with an aroused breathy tone, "… our food is probably going to burn." _Oh shit, our food…_

Knowing we shouldn't continue before we get too far ahead of ourselves, I adjust calmly so Talia gets off of me. Standing up, I wrap my hands around her waist, also struggling to have a steady breath. "Okay." I kiss her forehead once. "Food."

Talia mimics me closed eyed, with a grin and a sexy giggling exhale. "Food."

***Suggestive wink.* Mmmmkay, you liked it. If you didn't… well, I'm allowed to judge you. Yeah, I'm confident. Maybe a little too much sometimes, maybe not enough sometimes.**

**So, important talk – Is TALIA EFFING STAYING OR… Cause damn I literally thought they were done with that pathetic scene of Emily not even letting Talia explain herself… I only just found out tonight that Talia is in fact still on the show. She's not done, thank the universe, or gods, or god, or whatever shit you believe in ;P. There has to be more to her story – I honestly think they are just trying to make it so they aren't "perfect." Which I think is great. Now that they are gonna visit Alison in jail though… UGH EMISON.**

**Anyway – I love writing these two, so much. They fit well together. There isn't anything awkward between them. Miranda is an amazing fit for Shay – I wonder what it was like to do the intimacy/chemistry casting call with one another. That would have been interesting to watch – AGAIN ANYWAY – please review. I love all the reviews I have gotten so far – thank you for your support. Tell me what you like about this chapter – what you didn't like – what you want to see in the future… Have a beautiful night. **

**Stay Strong, Spread Strength – Trevelyan.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! SO I wanted to put out a chapter before the next episode… which is in 3 minutes… lol! (Feb 24****th****) But anyway, THANK YOU for all your reviews. You probably won't understand how much I appreciate them**

**And the shout out goes to… *Insert party streamers and horn sounds here* - fetch763! Which by the way fetch763, to answer your review – sexy time isn't that far away ;) Next shout is the 40th review.**

**One note – it seems that I said Talia's apartment is 850 square feet… I meant more like 350. Not that it's a big deal, but yeah… :3**

**On with it ;)**

**Emily POV.**

"_I like that, too much…" Leaned against the brick wall, Talia has her arms pinned outwards by me; her neck stretched out looking up, her eyes scrunched together, and her passion is desperately loving the fact that I'm not messing around – because messing around is nothing compared to wanting to make love to someone. She breathes in a gasp through her teeth creating a vacuum sound, because I'm slowly biting down on her pulse point, dragging my body up her arched one to continue to her jaw line. "Wayyy.. too much." Her voice croaks._

"Em, what's on your mind?"

"Sorry, nothing." I rush out quickly, hoping she didn't realize I was day dreaming about us. Both of us are knit together on the living room couch; cuddled and cozy, I don't understand how my mind wandered to wanting sex - when we were just talking about swimming, less than a minute ago. _ Being simply just close to her like this drives me insane. I just want to feel her. Even though, this is nice… us, just sitting here; it's intimate._We're listening to some soft instrumental jazz I have on my iPod, so we're very calm compared to earlier. I think to myself that I must have zoned out on some Christmas lights, lined along the edge on Talia's ceiling; as it's the only things lighting up the room other than a streetlamp from the deck.

Talia, moving along with the jazz very passionately, looks at me intently from my right, then takes her arm from around me and holds my face with both of her hands. She looks at my chin, slightly brushing it, and I start to feel exposed. I see her eyes move the tiniest bit to stare at my lips after a few seconds, with some sort of concerned thinking expression. When she leans in, I hear our lips make the noise that can't be described in words. A click, a smack, something more than a smooch or whack; I don't seem to recall a word for it, but I just stick to brushing my bottom lip gently against hers. She leans back still cupping my face and asks, "Are you okay… physically right now? You look flushed, and you're boiling up." Talia feels my forehead._Oh my goodness… this girl._ "Do you want some-" I put my hand to her lip in a shushing gesture. "Some water.. medicine.." Talia trails off, confused.

"Talia… you're stressing out. I know you're really concerned and it's going to take time for you to… I guess, not be in fear of my well-being. I'm pretty tough. And by the way, I'm not sick or anything. I don't know why I'm hot." _Total lie._

"Okay…" She continues to brush my chin.

"_I dare you Emily," m_y conscious nags. "Okay that was a lie. I know why I'm hot..."

Talia now squints her eyes at mine, and then I see her lips grow slowly into her special knowing smirk. She locks her jaw forward, looking down, twisting her tongue between her blushed cheeks, while raising both her eyebrows; looking like she's ready to say something exaggeratingly suggestive.

I feel my mouth move without thinking about it first. "But anyway… thank you for dinner, it was lovely. I don't want to overstay my welcome. It's almost nine o' clock…"This all just blurts out randomly. _Why am I trying to get out of this? Well I don't want her to think I just want to get in her pants… actually that is a good point._

She huffs a little laugh. "You already thanked me when we cleaned up dinner; but again, you're welcome. And as honest as this is, not that honesty is a bad thing, obviously… but 'overstaying your welcome'? Maybe you _are_ a little crazy." She animatedly plays. I adjust to put my head back on her shoulder as it was before, listening to her a make a better point than I was thinking. "After everything you told me tonight and the fact that you're… my _girlfriend._ I'd feel weird asking you to leave. I'd even be okay with you staying the night. And I'd sleep on the couch if that is what you want… You should know we can take this as slow as you want. Okay?"

After a few moments of being sort of speechless, I start whispering. "Talia…"

"Yes Em?"

"You're too fucking sweet its killing me. That's really all I have to say." I murmur into her collarbone.

"I'm sweet? You just said that you don't want to _overstay your welcome._ I'm pretty sure that's what you say when you're in elementary school; not bagging on your politeness though babe… I love that you're so well mannered."

"You're my girlfriend." Blurts out of my mouth randomly, again._Why can't I think before I speak right now?_

"That statement is correct." She says, and I can hear in her tone she's smiling confidently.

"I would love to stay the night… I just, don't think it would… I don't know. I guess its Saturday. Do you want me to stay?"

**Talia POV.**

"No, I don't."I say apathetically.

Emily stays silent on my shoulder for a couple moments. Confused, she carefully says, "Okay… I get it, its fine."

_Am I just a good actor? I guess she doesn't really know me well yet. I kid around so much._

"I'll get going in ten minutes then?" She asks with caution. _Oh Emily… just – facepalm…_

"Em… No. I was being sarcastic."

"Oh…" She breathily chuckles.

With fervent, I focus on her for a minute while trying to not let my insecurities bug me; because they definitely have been harassing me the whole night, even though she said yes to be my girlfriend. _What if this unrequited?_

She sits up and is now half turned to me, hands on the edge of the couch, giggling while biting her cheek. "I love your personality…" Emily reddens.

"Wink at me." I tell her blushing back, rather than asking her.

Emily is biting her lip hard, pushing her eyebrows together; obviously questioning my evident covet.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Nothing…" She says lowly, croaking with a smirk.

Knowing that I'm not making her uncomfortable, I ask, "Am I making you uncomfortable?" I want to get her to elaborate. _I don't get how she thinks; I want her to talk about her feelings…_

"Not at all… you just have this certain flow about you that I haven't experienced in a long time."

"I'm an experience? Okay. Talia Sandoval, The Experience, now playing in select theatres..." I say as a relaxed gimmick.

Emily leans in closer to me and I sink back into the couch farther. "Oh, you're definitely not just an hour and a half movie that is being played in shitty theatres with shitty popcorn." Emily mumbles, now getting closer to me._I like this._

"Oh I'm not am I?" I play back at her.

"You're much… much more than that, Talia." She says all of a sudden really seriously, pressing the left side of her face to mine, to continue into a croaky whisper in my ear. Though, I can tell she _isn't_ doing this to be sexy, but to be intimate; my right arm subconsciously goes around her shoulder to massage the back of her neck. She puts strands of hair behind my ear, and then gently presses our cheeks together again, resting her weight on the back of the couch with her shoulder. "I can… tell you've got an amazing heart. Soul, spirit, and all… special is an understatement. You make me laugh over thin air, because you just make things fun… and it's not that you make things simple, you have this… uplifting vibe. When I'm around you I just,_feel_... I feel like I'm feeling." These sudden confessions surprise me as this is exactly what I wanted to hear. The butterflies continue to grow more and more with everything she does. "I don't feel numb, or empty, like I have felt for so long… I'm sure for a lot of other people to you help make their day brighter… but for me you seem to be like a balance. A relaxation… I just think you should know that." Emily kisses my cheek long and soft, and I close my eyes feeling appreciated. "I love hearing you talk, you know… but I have an idea. Can we do something that might be a little strange…?" Emily asks curiously.

I nod slightly, smiling against her cheek. "Alright, but strange as in…?"

"Strange as in… were just going stare at each other." _Huh? That's not strange… well it's different to acknowledge it?_"I feel comfortable with you, so... you'll understand why I want to do this." Emily moves away and sits cross legged on the couch. "Mimic me."

I do what I'm told, still curious as to what staring at each other means in her point of view.

"Okay." Emily pulls out her phone and gets a timer app loaded. She starts talking really calmly. "So, what's gonna happen is… we're just going stare at each other, for four minutes straight. No talking… at all." She explains with hand gestures. "Breathe, sigh, or whatever; just no language. Pretend you don't know English, or Spanish for that matter."

I chuckle a tiny bit; as this is an activity I've never done before. "Is this a game… or?"

"Not exactly, but there are more rules… I'll explain why we're doing this eventually. Just… relax. No stress… no insecurities. You can laugh if you feel awkward, but you'll see there isn't a reason too. You have to stare at my eyes and my eyes only. If your eyes wander the slightest it's fine… You can blink as much as you want. Don't move that much at all and keep a good posture - except for facial expressions, you can move your face. I'll be following the same rules… This isn't too random right?

"No? It's different and I don't get it, but that's fine." I tell her truthfully.

"Okay." Emily takes a breath and waits a few seconds. All of a sudden I feel a little nervous and I don't know why."Ready?"

"Yes, beautiful." I say. She smiles close mouthed and starts the timer, puts her phone on the couch, and then starts looking at my vision.

_So… eyes. Eye contact…_ Even though I have felt extremely comfortable with Emily so far, I never have just let myself be stared at, from this distance at least. We aren't touching, and it feels a little unnatural. _Is this like… a normal thing to do? Is my girlfriend a little weird? I love weird…_I chuckle quietly, feeling awkwardness growing a tiny bit, but I see her eyes smile, and I can tell she is completely focused on me._Focus. It's not a staring contest… so what are we doing? Do I look at one eye? Do I switch back and forth? This feels so personal._Her nose scrunches up a bit andI perceive that she is completely content with staring at me now. I start to take in her features and appreciate them. I question myself if that is what this is for; to just have an excuse so she can stare at me. Now feeling a bit flattered I smile and she looks down at my lips for a couple seconds, then back up. Her face relaxes entirely and she happily sighs through her nose._This is about detail then… emotions? For everything I think and feel, I have a certain way to express it; she does too… maybe I should just stop questioning everything for a minute. I'm not supposed to know language…_

After at least one minute passes things start feeling a little trippy, for lack of a better word. Staring at another person's face without any other distractions is really tiring; though, I am definitely enjoying studying her eyes even more so than I already have. _This is mesmerizing._ I'm realizing now that maybe this isn't just an excuse to stare at me. _I feel really close with her emotionally… eye contact is meant to help people fall in love. She wanted to do this… I don't know. I'm so confused… but fuck she's gorgeous. This definitely is meant to help build trust. I stopped feeling insecure about forty seconds in… so is that it? Trust?_Emily takes in a big breath, and I see her eyes wince, so I decide to myself that her bruised eyebrow is nagging at her. Knowing that pain is temporary, I don't let it bother me, though my mind starts to comprehend how much her bruises hurt. _She's just staring back at me… or maybe I'm just seeing her stare at me. Almost a reflection? No… that be a little strange, we aren't the same person._Then it hit me how _human_ this is. I also start feeling more lustful than I already have for Emily; even more than when we were making out.

The timer goes off making three soft dings, and I notice it doesn't faze either of. We're still staring at each other, but my eyes wander down to her cheekbones. Her cheeks are becoming a little more than rosy despite her tanned skin and I blush back. I immediately feel the loss of eye contact – like it's unnatural to stare at anything but her eyes. Now all I want to look at is her eyes, to see what they're seeing.

"Thoughts?" Emily questions in a whisper.

"That was beautiful." I say, knowing it's the only way to describe the moment we just had.

"Sounds about right." She smiles continuing to speak softly. "Want to know why I asked to do this?" I nod, still staring into her eyes. She takes my hands and plays with them. "Well, I have always had this theory of mirrors with ourselves, as people. Uhm… We look in the mirror so many times a day; we get used to ourselves. You know what I mean? So by staring at another person for that long like as if you were looking in a mirror… you kinda get used to them in a way that you haven't with other people… like right now all I can stare at are your eyes, as you can tell." She chuckles." And that's because of something that I really will never be able to explain to you. I don't know what it is; it just happens. Also it is just something people have done to build a connection with someone. I'm sure you felt a little vulnerable. I sure did."

"I know, it's weird. At first it was intense, but now it's kind of… just natural to want to see you, through your eyes… It's definitely a different way of connecting with someone or getting to know how they feel. I definitely felt vulnerable to you… and I still kind of do, but now in a good way." I pause and smile, biting my lip as she brushes some hair of hers back and out of her face." When you winced your eye and I swear I could feel a tinge on my face like if I were to have your bruise… is that strange?"

"No… I don't think so…" She says, and we both stare at each other in a longing moment.

Emily changes her position to her knees and leans into me, cupping my face with one hand, consuming my lips with hers all in one motion. The tension between us has been way too strong and she obviously needs to touch me just as much as I need to touch her. She leans me back, hovering forward to lie down on top of me, as my arms hold her curves gently, and our legs entangle. Having her weight between my legs gives me a head rush, and all I want to do is make love right here and now. As her hair cascades over one side, she tugs slightly at my lower lip with her own, pulling it back and letting it go like an elastic band. This drives me nuts, while my thoughts get scrambled by her sweet, almost marshmallow-like scent. I decide to dig my nails into her shirt; all of a sudden sharply breathes in through her teeth, whimpering. "Ooo baby, my back." Her eyebrows scrunch together.

"Babe, sorry." I peck her cheek when it's turned. "I forgot for a few seconds."

"It's fine… I'm glad I can de-rationalize your thoughts." She says against my lips.

"Now that I'm thinking though, you need more ice. It really is that bad - you should almost get it looked at. Want me to take you to a walk-in doctor tomorrow?"

"Okay… that sounds like a good idea. Cause I think something is out of place, or just… messed up." She digs her nose into my neck to kiss it once, and then snickers. We lay like this comfortably, and I note that our willpower to not make out is very important. _We both need to cool it… cause I want to wait… and it's just gonna get harder and harder to stop. I haven't even made love to a woman so… hopefully she understands. I guess I am a little scared… this is all so different; I never felt like this right away with any guy… it's crazy, this is crazy… I'm totally head over heels about her. Should I tell her I want to wait until we know each other a bit more?_ After questioning how serious I want to get with her, and how fast, I start playing with her hair.After everything that we have talked about and done so far, I see how much of a sweetheart she is. How her way of life is about safety of others, and helping others.

"You're so compassionate… I see that clear as day, by the way." I compliment.

"Mmm.. yeah. My friends tend to come to me for help and support. I used to be weak, though."

"Weak? Never." I say, twisting a strand of hair towards the ceiling, letting it fall.

"No really… I never used to stand up for myself. I followed everyone else. But now I'm my own best friend, if that makes sense. Other than my other best friends…"

"It makes sense." I smile.

Some parody phone call version of Skyfall by Adele starts playing from the table.

"That's Spencer… I better get it." Emily says getting off of me, and I understand it could be important.

She picks up the phone and I can hear a faint voice of a girl with a scratchy breath, not calm, and sounds like she's been crying. "Aria? Where's Spencer?" Emily just nods her head, listening to her friend. She brings her feet up on the couch, knees to her face and scoots over to me. Now sitting close to her, I tuck some hair behind my ear, leaning in to hear her friend from the other side of the phone. Emily takes my right hand with her left.

"-and when he got home he… Emily, Mona wasn't supposed to die. I mean… she had a _deal_ with _A_. The bitch double-crossed her. Right now Spencer is like, holding Mike. He's crying his eyes out, we all have been. Alison couldn't of… killed her. Emily, we accused her of all this… she has to be innocent. Mona had this planned for ages, she had blood… in tubes to spread around the house. I don't want to explain this on the phone anymore… " Aria says this all sounding like she is about to start bawling more, and more with every word.

I can tell Emily has nothing to say and she's speechless. She pulls the phone away from our faces and looks at me, expressionless; though looking lost. This is the first time I see Emily without an understanding of what to do.

"Emily? Where are you? Is your mom home? Need us to come over?" We Aria hear say concerned from the phone.

Emily doesn't answer, so I decide I could maybe help her out as this news isn't sitting right with her. "Em," I whisper, "I can… talk to her if you want?"

She just hands me the phone, leaning her head slowly on the back of the couch, closing her eyes.

"Aria?"

"Emily?"

"No Aria, sorry, it's Talia… Emily is here at my place. I guess she just is trying to take this all in."

"Oh… okay. Is Emily staying the night with you there? We just don't want her alone tonight."

"Yes she's going to stay here. I know you that we haven't really talked before, but I want to let you know she's safe with me here." Emily just holds my hand tighter and sniffles, then leans on my shoulder.

"That sounds good," now Aria is the one sniffling, "thank you Talia. Uhm… I guess you know what's been going on? You seem like you do, which I'm glad Emily has found someone she can trust."

"I do, I don't know everything… but the important stuff. You, Hannah, and Spencer have my word… I'm here to help."

"Thank you… I'll let you go. I have to phone Hannah, she doesn't even know yet… that Mona was planning to disappear. Tomorrow we'll probably all meet up and try to see when we should visit Alison in jail. We obviously need to figure out more to her story; actually try to listen to her again, maybe. I don't know."

"Okay, I'll tell Emily… Take it easy, Aria. Goodnight."

"Thank you, Talia… goodnight." I hear Aria say appreciatively before hanging up.

Emily takes her phone and sets it on the table. Her eyes are red, but she has no tears. She leans back on the couch, closing her eyes again. "I understand why you have nothing to say, and you don't need to say anything." I try to comfort her.

"I'm out of tears for the day. Literally, this day has been full of so many different types of emotions and I kind of want to end it."

"Emily…" I think for minute. _If Ali is innocent that means Emily is going to hate herself for not believing her… though they don't have proof she is innocent of everything._"We're not going to talk about it, though… Let me ask you to not think anything of this just quite yet. Facts will come, but let's not let this become a stressful waiting game... you know what I mean? We can go to bed if you want."

"Yeah… you're right. I can't dwell while I wait for more answers… and yeah. Let's go to sleep soon… though can I make us some tea?"

"Of course."

**Emily POV.**

The kettle is warming up and Talia is giving me pecks on my cheek, as she sway's me. She's holding me from behind as she leans her back on the counter and I rest my weight on her. I hear her starts humming a tune and I can't tell what it is, though I know I recognize it. Her humming is making me feel limp with shivers as she's doing it right in my ear, and it sounds heavenly. "Mmm, what is that?" I ask.

Raspy, low, and with a slow bluesy swing, Talia voice starts making me melt. "Tonight you're mine, completely… You give your love, so sweetly. Tonight the light of love is in your eyes. Will you still love me tomorrow?"

_Oh my…_"Babe I didn't know you could sing… damn that's sexy. You sound so jazzy… and like, mm. What's the song?"

Talia laughs and takes the tea after it clicks. "You'll never know babe."

"No really. I need to know. I love jazz, and I can tell you do too…"

After she pours the tea in tow mugs, she picks them up and steps back over to me. "One day." She pecks my forehead. "Come on, let's get ready for bed, beautiful." She hops off with a huge smile on her face, past the living room into her bedroom. _So she really is basically a musician too? I did see that guitar in the corner when I got here, I should have guessed she was amazing at singing._

I walk in to her bedroom to find some red shorts and a black t-shirt laid out for me. Talia turns on a lamp and grabs a blanket from a closet.

"Goodnight beautiful, I'll set an alarm for us for nine o' clock." She says as she starts walking past me out of the room. I take a step to grab her hand.

"Where do you think you're going? You actually thought I would make you sleep on the couch?"

"Oh… I just… I didn't know."

"Talia…" I pull her close to me. "I just want to be close to you. That's being totally honest. Besides, I have had some pretty ridiculous nightmares lately, and being close to someone always helps so… yeah. Come on."

She cups my face, closes her eyes and kisses me. "Okay." Is her simple reply. I just smile.

After changing I come back into the room to see she's already in bed, so I crawl in to snuggle up to her, leaning on her shoulder. After everything that has happened today I feel completely exhausted; so exhausted that I seem to be out already in a deep sleep. At some point I feel a soft, light pressure between my eyebrows, so with the rational thinking I still have left before my brain hits complete slumber, I grin.

**I hope you loved this.****Review lovelies!**

**PLL started… mur!**

**Stay Strong, Spread Strength. – Trev.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Helllllooooooo. So, this chapter might feel like it's a little weird, or has a lot of angst, or its slow, I don't know. I guess I should say there might be triggers for some people in it. BUT honestly, don't let it bother you, sweetie – cause you know what? I love you, and I'm writing this to also help people. I'm here for you and you should know that. ****J**** Please enjoy beautiful – and you are really fucking beautiful – yeah, you better smile, I am.**

**Oh one thing to randomly point out… for the people who don't know – The PLL universe is still in 2012… why? BECAUSE TIME MOVES SLOWLY IN ROSEWOOD. These chapters have literally only been 3 days… lol. So, I am going to try to speed it up a tiny bit after this chapter, days wise. But, it kinda doesn't matter – because in Rosewood, so many things happen in a short time period. I believe that season 4 and the start of season 5 was like, ONLY October and November… xD I know right. I could be wrong but I am pretty sure I am close to being right. Anyway, on with it.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own dis Pretty Little Liars or whatever it's called.**

**Emily POV.**

"I told you, they are all fucking lies. I'm not _A_. Why the _fuck_ would I be _A_!?" Alison angrily yells, sounding out of breath, not _at_ _me_, but questioning both of us. With our eyes both bloodshot, and our tongues tired of talking, the intensity in the room just keeps growing. I can feel that type of pain in my chest, where I question if it's physical; pins and needles, numbness.

"I don't know who to trust anymore. Innocent until proven guilty; but no matter what… you're going on trial. I _know_ you weren't home on thanksgiving. You hated Mona; why shouldn't we think that it was you? Tell me _I didn't kill her_ one more time, and I'm done, and leaving; this time for good." Alison is sitting on the chest seat at the end of her bed, not daring to make eye contact with me. Her hands are on her forehead, leaned over resting on her knees; wearing a simple hoodie and jeans, obviously not worried about her looks compared to her usual attire. She closes her eyes, and I can tell she wants me to yell at her more. I can tell she is willing to let me get angry at her, and give her shit for everything; because she knows she deserves at least some of it – and _that_ is what depresses me the most. Alison _knows_ she's messed up one too many times. "I already told you I was done with you, but for fucks sakes you _know_ I care about you too much to not give you one last chance to explain things to me, and me alone. You_ know_ that if it's going to be anyone, it's _me_ who you have to trust right now, to tell everything. Give me something else… _facts_ Alison, facts. Give me a fucking fact... You haven't given me that in god knows how long." Teeth clenched, my hands are behind my head most of the time looking at the ceiling, while I regret my harsh choice of words after every syllable is spoken. Though, I chuckle, slightly amused with what we have come to._ I can't fix this. This isn't fixable. Is Alison really insane? Am I in a room with A?_

Alison is completely silent, staring blankly at one spot on the ground, evidently jaded with trying to show emotion. I know she is exhausted, because she has nightmares like myself, all the time. She stands up slowly, running her hand through her hair to flip it all to one side. I turn to look at her – her eyes dart from that same spot on the ground to my own without a blink. Letting out her words in a tired, croaky breath, "The one thing I know I need to say… is that everything I've done… everything I'm doing that you won't understand is because of _A_. _A_ has me framed… and that might be what I deserve for being an idiot and an asshole." I listen to all this, knowing I've heard it before, so I try to start speaking but she continues in even a more emotional, exhausted tone. "I've never been more scared in my life. I know that I'm going to be framed and put in jail… _A_ is going to find a way to make sure I get tortured in there too.. and I'm _done_ trying to make sense of all this. I'm done with trying to back up my story with false words." Now I just feel her pain, and I don't know what to do; because my heart is telling me to comfort her one last time before she ends up behind bars. "And I'm done, with trying to lie myself out of a situation. Emily, I'm more exhausted of myself than you are. I can't stand myself anymore… I'm going to put up a fight, but I know there will be evidence planted… nothing is going to work out the way it should. The _way it should_, where _A_ gets locked up, not me..."

"Ali…" I say, letting out a heavy exhale, using all my emotional strength to not break down. Seeing my once best friend, and, if I can call her my once lover, give up, makes me want to be non-existent. I shake my head with complete sorrow. "You fucked up…" Is what my mouth chokingly states, while I wish the words weren't true.

Alison nods a few times, and I see her get lost in front of me. Shamefully looking down closing her eyes, she dares to stretch out her arms in the air – an old gesture she used to do when we were young, carefree, and just simply in need of a hug. All my frustration and anger lets up, and I give in; knowing this will probably be the last time I see Alison before the cops find some evidence of her killing Mona. I step in, and her arms go around my shoulders, her cheek wet against mine. "I regret everything, Em. You know I'm sorry."

"I know." And I _do know._ _I know you're not crazy; I know you can't be what we all think you are, Ali. She can't be A. A doesn't have empathy like she does. _I know I can't stay any longer, for various reasons and as to where everyone thinks I am, because no one knows, but Alison. Know – a word that sometimes is overused, and not literally the word, but the literal definition is used too much. People _can_ know too much.

"You know I have to leave now." I say, still holding her.

"Go." She barely says.

I hesitantly lean back and hold her face with both my hands, looking into her eyes. "Fuck you, Ali." I get out with a whisper, voice shaking. I go and kiss her forehead, holding myself there for a few moments; and she trembles - because that _fuck you_ has a hint of love in it. That_ fuck you_ is really me telling her I hate that she messed this all up, because I love her and have to walk away. So I do.

I feel myself falling; so I fall, out of my mind and into opening my eyes without moving. An unrecognizable room appears and I then realize I'm in a bed. It doesn't take me long to remember that Talia is beside me, and I'm safe. _I can't believe I was right. She couldn't of killed Mona. She was framed._ My dream was a flashback, and I remember that moment near perfect; because it was the last time I saw her before I helped the cops arrest her. _I helped the cops arrest her._ I didn't know who to trust, so I trusted safety. "_Better safe than sorry," I said... how the fuck could I of let her get arrested when my heart knew she was innocent?_ Guilt.

I look around, surprised I wasn't physically affected by my dream, but then note that it's because it wasn't a nightmare, just a flashback with a label of my already broken heart breaking more. Talia is fast asleep, and the covers are barely overtop of us. The room has a light blue glow, but is still fairly dark, and the air feels like it is about five o'clock, so that's why I know can partially see. Talia moves slightly in her sleep and the covers fall off of her more; her tank top and shorts exposing most of her skin. My vision travels around the sight of her._ I don't care if we jumped into this too fast for other people's point of view, I deserve her. I deserve Talia; I deserve a beautiful woman inside and out, that isn't going to stab me in the back, play with my heart, or hurt me in general purposely… She really is something. _This is when I see something that I don't understand. Talia's leg is sprawled out, as she is turned to me on her stomach, peaceful in rest. Many strips of white lines going up and down her tan thigh, almost all the way to her knee cap, shock me to almost disbelief._ But…_ My heart aches and I put my arm overtop of her. I used to want to complete _that_ action, that way of self hatred, life hatred; my situation has brought me to so many points where I couldn't stand to have my life anymore – but also I couldn't stand life itself anymore; and the pain others have to go through. Fortunately, I have had many other outlets to go to, because I knew if I started a habit, it would be hard to stop. _I understand, whatever it is Talia…_ With deep confusion of understanding and not understanding at the same time, I decide I'm not going to talk to her about it. _I'll let her bring it up… is she still cutting? How old are these? When was the last time? Why? _My mind continues to ask nothingness a billion questions until I fall back asleep, sniffling.

**Talia POV.**

"I got my eyes on you, you're everything that I see. I want your high love and emotion, endlessly. I can't get over you, you left your mark on me…" I hear the familiar tune play out from the left of me, realizing it's my radio's alarm. Digging the back of my head more into my pillow, shutting my eyes tighter, I for once enjoy the random melody picked by a radio station. _Do I have work today? What day is it?_ I start to stretch a starfish, but my leg brushes up against something solid in my bed when I turn my body, startling me. "Whoa." Is what I quietly let out when I sit up, tucking my knees to my chest in one motion.

"Buenas dias?" Emily says good morning, with a very questioning tone. "Uhm… you okay?" She then asks while laying on her stomach with one eye open; her hair flipped around everywhere but her face, latched onto a pillow that supports her head.

"Sorry…" I breathe out with a slight laugh. "Morning Em… I guess I've been used to not having someone in a bed with me." I tilt my head back against my reddened oak wood headboard. Grinning, taking in the fact she's twisted around in my white silk sheets, I pat beside me on the bed.

Emily gets up and scoots up to be symmetrical by my side. "Well," she leans to plant a peck on my temple, "maybe you'll need to get used to it. I tend to sleep around at other people's houses more than mine."

_Oh Em, your word choices are impeccable. _Trying to look as serious as possible, I put up an act. "You sleep around? You free this morning?" I reach to grab my purse from the side of the bed, conveniently placed on a chair, and unzip it to start looking for my wallet. "How much? I _think_ I got about three fifty…-" I stop there to see Emily's _what the fuck_ face, jaw slacked with teeth smirking; I note how cute it is and realize I have to make bad jokes more often.

When Emily is done making her facial expression, she grabs a hold of my chin to turn my face directly towards hers. Going to say something, she then bites back her words literally, chattering her teeth together a few times, looking around with just her eyes. With a slap on my cheek gently, "You, are friggin' ridiculous…" she mutters.

"You like it."

She just makes a certain, "Mhmm," that's a part of her unique character.

I put my purse back to the side of the bed. She takes my hand and plays with it, all of a sudden without her playful happy expression that I just saw. "If there is any type of food I can make, it's breakfast. So… just do your daily morning routine and I'll make us something to eat. " She tells me chuckling slightly, like she's trying to get past whatever just happened – though I question her sudden change of flow.

I purse out my lips thinking about how it really couldn't hurt letting Emily cook us breakfast. "That sounds wonderful, thanks babe." Standing up while still looking at her with a smile, I go to the dresser across my left side of the bed and then look out the window. "It's raining."

"You kind of sound excited," I hear her get out of the sheets and she comes over to the window, just to lean on it with her arms crossed to look at me; as I search for what I want to wear in my black dresser. "You like the rain or something?" She asks politely.

"Well, I was more just saying it so you should dress warm, but yeah, I love it actually. Which by the way do you want a pullover which will be comfy for the doctors?"

"So you're actually taking me to the doctor…"

"Yep. First stop. Then I'll be taking you to your friends, they need to speak with you…" I hand her a navy pullover hoodie.

"Shit." Emily randomly rushes out.

"What?"

"I totally forgot that I have to help Hannah with a dance routine and my back is out. Maybe even my head… my head is out? Grammar." She chuckles. "No but really, what if I can't dance. She's going to be totally upset…"

I put my stuff on the bed and saunter to grab her shoulders. "Emily... That's why we're going to the doctors. You'll be able to do it."

"I just… she needs this. " She pauses, then hugs me. "You know what, no, never mind. Battle after battle, step by step, I need to stop flipping over little things. Okay, I'm going to go make dinner now." She kisses me on the cheek and leaves the room.

_She tried. _Emily swings her head back in the doorway. "Breakfast." Then pops it back out and I laugh to myself._ That was a nice moment to see her mind switch randomly. The woman has drive._

When my oddly emotional ten minute shower ends, I put my hair in a towel and look in the mirror. Standing there, completely naked, my thoughts wander to a time when I wasn't comfortable in my own skin. _Even if we get to that stage in our relationship… which I want to with Em; what is she going to think? _ I lean on the white and silver square sink, to then look down and feel some water dripping off my chin. _I mean I know she won't be mad, or angry… Is this even a secret? They're just a part of who I am. Eric didn't care… but then again that made me feel shitty. In fact I don't think we even had a single discussion about why; he just acknowledged them._ I look back up to the mirror and see my thin silver chain dangle, randomly wondering when I'll ever put something back on it. Taking a towel to rub my body down I hear two knocks on the bathroom door. "Taliaaaaa. Dasayuno." Emily coos that breakfast is ready through the door.

_Ugh why do I feel butterflies over this? __She's killing me._ "Bueno. Saldré en un minuto." I reply, while changing into my outfit. _A black and grey flannel… green jean vest with a hood, and ripped jeans? I haven't tried these things together yet. Man, I look gay. I look good. _I put on some mascara and then add a little foundation under my eyes; feeling like that's all the makeup l I need for today, because of such a great night's rest.

I come out to find Emily putting out some forks and knives around the plates. "I didn't exactly tell you where everything is, how did you end up cooking so fast? What did you make?" I ask while seeing that the door to my deck is open with a screen, feeling a breeze.

"Simpleness." Emily says as she pulls out a chair at my breakfast bar for me, so I sit down, gathering my damp hair to my right side. "Just tomatoes and green pepper cooked in an omelette. I want to get to the doctors as soon as possible though, if that's alright, I felt really weak when you were in the shower and had a huge head rush…" Emily says as she puts something in the sink and then sits down beside me. I notice her eyebrow is a little purpler than it was yesterday, but she's still smiling at me, looking bright and fresh faced.

"You're glowing." I compliment.

"I slept wonderfully, so yeah, maybe." She winks.

We end up being on the road twenty minutes later; and after a refreshingly quiet car ride we pull up to a walk in clinic. "It might be a long wait, you don't have to come if you don't feel like it." Emily says as I turn off the ignition to fake laugh. I just give her a look and shake my head, opening my door. She gets out carefully and when we reach the building I grab her hand to the door to open it for her.

"Hello there, how could I help you?" The lady asks me, as I notice Emily seems to be on a phone call.

_Improv? _"My girlfriend fell off a playground into a ditch and rolled down this… ditch that had quite a few rocks on it. She has quite a massive bruise on her back and a tiny one on her head. I'm worried that she has a concussion, it seems like her words get jumbled up every now and again."

"Okay, Dr. Kael we'll be ready for you two in probably twenty minutes. Please take a number." The lady says, and I note she isn't in a good mood; as she made no I contact with me, talking while almost rolling her eyes. _Well, she didn't like the fact I called her my girlfriend._

I sit down in the waiting chairs next Emily as she hangs up the phone; closing her eyes, probably because of the blaring white lights in the ceiling.

"That was Hannah, they wanted to cancel meeting up today, mostly because Hannah... I don't even know."

"What happened with Hannah?"

"Some asshole coach of hers realized that since she was _associated _with Alison, they are basically asking for her to drop out… I was looking forward to helping her practice." My girlfriend basically slurs out with anger.

"Emily, that's kind of like… discrimination, or something. What are they so afraid of?" _What the hell is wrong with people?_

"That their sponsors will drop out because they don't want to be part of a scene without _good moral._"

"Maybe you should try out...?"

"It was for Hanna," Emily looks at me in the eye, with a pained expression from the lights, "and I'm associated with Alison too. They probably wouldn't let me…"

"You never know…"

"It's just not going to happen… We'll have to think of another way for her to get money. It's okay, thanks though… for caring, really, Talia." Emily looks at me appreciatively, so I smile back and look at the ground.

I ponder about this for a while as the time passes, probably stressing or worrying too much about everything. Someone calls Emily's name, but I don't acknowledge I need to move until Emily calls my own. We're now sitting in a cold room, with many advertisements for all the latest types of pills and treatments that are supposed to cure illnesses. At least that is what stands out to me; the lies – and this is when my body goes on auto pilot. I've always hated going to doctors, or hospitals, because they really do just make me unreasonably depressed. And on this sort of auto-pilot, I do question if I am depressed, when the grey eyed, middle-aged doctor, asks me, "Is Emily staying with you so you can watch her?" I question myself because of that feeling of third person; of looking at myself play out. I just nod, knowing I'm saying yes to the doctor and myself at the same time. _I'm still depressed, isn't that funny? Am I? I guess. _I'm in the corner of the room as the doctor tips and turns Emily's head all around; as she sits on the paper covered bed, asking her numerous questions. Then I see Emily in pain; I snap out of my deep state and focus on her, trying to gain information of what is happening. "I can't be completely certain, but you must have a minor concussion, which you will need to rest your brain from as much activity as possible." Mr. Kael pronounces.

"Yeah, I didn't think it was that bad yesterday, but it's been hurting worse today." Emily says back.

Auto pilot becomes myself for the next twenty or so minutes. Thinking, too much thinking; looking at Emily, is the only time I smile. She smiles back, and I think even more. It's madness when I look at her, and that's all I know.

We happen to be walking towards a group of people, Emily is holding my hand; they're outside of The Brew, four girls. _Snap out of it._

"Emily?"

Emily stops walking and turns to look at me on the side walk, I see the girls looking at us over Emily's shoulder, but they don't seem to mind. "Yeah? Are you alright?"

"I'm alright I just… should I stay and talk or do you want me to go? Let you guys talk about things?" I ask her, probably sounding overly worried.

Emily makes eye contact with me and squeezes my hand. She turns me to walk towards the group again.

"Hey… you two." A blonde says, which from what Emily has talked about, I guess is Hannah.

"Hey guys… You all haven't been formally introduced, so Talia, this is Hannah, Aria, and Spencer." She says, pointing to them in order around the iron table. "Guys, meet Talia."

Aria smiles at me and looks down to my hand connected to Emily's. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you all too… now I guess I should get going and let you guys figure some stuff out?"

"Nonsense." Hannah carries out with a ring. She gets up and grabs my shoulders from behind and starts pushing me inside the brew. _Alrighty then. _"We have much to discuss… all of us. And since Emily is basically in love with you, you have to know what's going on, for safety."

She pushes me all the way to a couch in the corner. "Whoa, she isn't in love with me." We sit down, and Hannah scoots as close to me as possible holding my hand, patting it with both of hers.

"Oh Talia. That's cute. You do realize the fact that she told you about _A_ is like… it means she's falling for you, at least._"_

_This is really weird. Where are the other girls?_ "Okay, I don't know. Maybe. I'm glad she trusts me… but um… what's happening? What's the plan?"

"Well I don't know why the hell they didn't follow us in here. Umm…" This is when Spencer opens the front door of the Brew, holding it for Emily and Aria. "There they are…"

Emily walks over to stand in front of us, raising an eyebrow. "Uh… Hannah. Why are you like… uhm, latched onto my girlfriend?" She says chuckling.

"Whoa. _Girlfriend?_" Spencer questions with that certain laughing tone of hers.

"Well we should have guessed it, Talia knows a lot already." Hannah says nonchalantly, still holding onto me.

"Hannah, if you're looking for physical affection then come latch onto me, not a girl you just met." Spencer basically demands, seeming embarrassed that Hannah is being this way.

"Oh? Spencer wants some Hannah time huh?" Hannah mocks. "Both of our kind of boyfriends are on the rocks anyway, you and I-"

"Hannah not the time to bring up relationship issues." Emily tells her, whispering. Emily looks at me with a weird expression; this all slightly amuses me, seeing how she talks with her friends.

Hearing this conversation, my eyes are darting between everyone as I turn red for an unknown reason. My eyes land on Aria as she sits down and crosses her legs, raising both her eyebrows; as if she's saying _get used to it._ I shrug at her, and Hannah finally seems to be letting go of me and scoots over to Spencer to let Emily sit beside me. "Kay. What's happening. Spencer, please explain some things to me. I need to know the full story about Mona…"

The conversation lingers for a few hours, and I realize how much more detail there is than just a prick with a cell phone. Though, I don't care; because as cliché as it sounds in my head… _I just want Emily safe._

**Can't wait to write more, post more, and see your feedback Hope this wasn't too heavy for you all. Much love – Trev**

**You should sleep ;) Or wake up? Or.. Nevermind. Bye!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hiya lovelies. So it seems that I've got into the routine of posting once a week – and I'm completely content with that because then I have time to go through and make a good chapter **** I really love this one and I hope you do too. I don't know what's happening with Talia… if Miranda is staying on the show or not… I mean, she was casted as a recurring roll, but that might not mean anything… I guess we'll see :3 Though I know I'm going to keep writing this… gives me something to enjoy doing.**

**Some of you have given me the strangest suggestions… or maybe I just don't really understand you, but I really do appreciate your input and what you have to say. I'm also realllllllllyyyy thankful you guys seem to get lost in this – or at least some of you. I've shocked myself that the story is already around 35,000 words… craaaazy. Anyways. Enjoyyyy, or I'll… idk, I'll find you and hug you until you like my personality. And then we'll see how you like my story… fuck idek what I'm saying. **

**Go!**

**Emily POV.**

_Well… shit. What am I doing… oh god, she's going to kill me…_

Driving, maybe not very well, I'm on my way to Talia's apartment, without deciding to warn her I'm coming. Maybe, I didn't tell her to come to me, because I was in a park alone, with too much whiskey; which would have scared her, and might have made me look completely pathetic. Maybe, I'm too intoxicated to realize that I'm going to let her find out I'm currently driving drunk; which is probably more pathetic sounding compared to asking her to pick me up in a park. Maybe, I don't exactly care if I get charged with a DUI, or if I crash, because my thoughts are telling me that things are already preposterously _fucked_. Lucky for me, its nine o'clock on a Saturday night, and the cops here could give less of damn about patrolling the streets – they have to worry about all the murders and lies this town _seems_ to be filled with._ You've got this. See you're doing fine, you're not even swerving, girl. Swerve. What does swerve even mean…?_ "Swerrrvvvee." I slur to myself alone in the car, thinking I'm cooler than all the non-existent bitches eyeing me; trying to focus my stuttering vision on the street name that I only _think_ is the correct one to turn on."Yeaaahh this was a stupid idea – nope, no, nawwwww, nevermind, I see ittttt, I see it." So humorously, I see Talia's building and pull into the correct parking lot, extremely proud of the fact that I made it; even though the fact is I maybe drove two blocks.

At her door, I take a moment to gather myself. Though I know I can't, because I'm grinning like an idiot; and it probably took me a good ten minutes to get from the car to here. I'm holding myself up against the wall with my shoulder, hand on my hip, seeing the hall spin in front of me. "Oh fuck this is bad…" I laugh out. _Should I even have come here… It's been three days since I saw her at work. _With the rationality I have left, I straighten out my leather jacket and roll up its sleeves. Then, I decide to button up my greenish-grey button-up a bit more, trying to make myself seem presentable.

_Knock knickity knock knock, knock knock. _

She opens the door, and my intellectual capacity decides to only acknowledge she's wearing baggy sweat pants, and a sexily tight pink sports bra. Her abs are breathing irregular and I can't seem to bring my eyes to her face. "Whoa… hi there… sexy." I slowly say mischievously, leaning my face on the door frame.

"Emily, what are you doing here? I mean what brought you here? Uhm… Sorry, I'm all sweaty… come in babe." I nod, my eyes are now at her face, but they are squinted. I crave to touch her, and that's not the alcohol speaking.

Talia starts talking with hand motions while closing the door behind me. "I'm sorry I didn't phone back yesterday night, Eric and I were at a disagreement over the phone so I went to bed… kind of didn't feel like-"

"It's okayyy… I'm here now… so it don't matter." I smile, wondering if she can even tell I'm absolutely wasted, or just acting weird. I take off my high tops and stretch my arms out for a hug; Talia looks at me funny.

"I'm reallllyyyy sweaty hun." She says, trying to convince me. My eyes wander over to her patio door; in front of it there is a mat on the ground and I hear some really amazing slow R&amp;B playing, knowing its Rihanna. "Oh dear…" Talia says seeing my evidence, and then laughs placing her arms on her hips. "Oh Emily… you seem in one piece so that's why I'm not worried."

"I knowww, I knoowww… sshhh." Honestly, I don't know what to do or say, so I decide to go along with whatever she does.

Talia is looking at me like I'm a puppy or something; eyebrows knit, lips pursed. "Come here… let's get you to my bedroom." She says grabbing my waist so I can put weight on her.

"Ooooo, the bedroom huh?" I cheekily say in her ear; she closes her eyes and turns to me, and my eyes only focus on her lips. While she shakes her head blushing I decide to lean on the wall, bringing her close to me.. "You _are_ sweaty… sooo why- why didn't.. you tell me you're… you're ripped. That's not a secret to keep to yourself… you know." _Wow, I really can't control how I feel right now… she must think I'm horny. Which I probably am… I am, yeah I am._

With a breath, "Emily… how did you even get here sweetie. I don't care that you're totally hammered right now, just…" She's laughing, and she decides to bend down slightly. "I don't know if I can do this, I haven't done it in a while." She grabs my leg and holds onto my back, so I get the cue to hop up so she can lift me.

"You're strong enough to hold me, whatchuuuu talking about beautiful." I play, grabbing my arms around her neck.

"I didn't know… Kay, I'm going to bring you to my bed, you can pass out or whatever you want. I'm going to take a shower…" Talia brings me into her bedroom and sets me down on her bed. "Pass your jacket." I comply to this demand, and realize I want to kiss her badly. "I'm gonna get you water, want anything else?" She asks caringly.

"You." My head sways as I sit on the edge of her bed, I almost think of pulling her down on top of me.

"God you're making this hard for me, aren't you?" She fully bites her bottom lip and backs up with character to the door.

"Mmm, hard? What's hard?"

"Em… you know what, just..." Now, she's looking into her bedroom at me against the doorframe -though, her lips don't finish her sentence; but I hear her make a_ very_ fake, frustrated sigh.

I look down leaning my arms on the bed and blush. Then, when I see her shadow leave from the light shining in, the alcohol starts to move my body from an idea._ Lightbulb?_

I hop up quickly stumbling over my feet, to go through the second door of the washroom. I close the door connecting to the bedroom, while realizing that Talia can probably see me from the kitchen right now. Knowing my head rush is too great, I lean against the shower door to take off my ripped jeans. Seeing myself in the mirror, I notice my hair is a mess so I flip it over all to one side to make it look more together. Now, after turning the shower head on with a twist, I'm starting to unbutton my button shirt; this is when I hear something made of glass being put on the counter behind me, and a click of a doorknob connecting with a doorframe. Hands lightly turn me around with my shoulders, and I see Talia breathing out a heavy exhale cupping my face. "You're unbelievable." I keep unbuttoning my shirt and I notice she doesn't stop me. "Emily, seriously… shhh… stopppppp. You're… god, you're gonna drive me insane. You can't do this you're sooo fucking drunk right now."

"So." Is my only word before I go in the shower in my bra and thong. The water is hitting my legs and I know she is gawking at me; for my actions and for the fact she's never seen my body before.

"Em, no..." She stays outside the shower, but I know her _no,_ is basically questioning her own negative confirmation to this optional proposition.

"Ha, _no_. That's a funny word." I play out. "Come on… take off your pantttsss… I'll keep my lawn-gerrr-ayyy on."

"You… but uhm..." She stutter.

"Talia… I'm harmless. Nothing… going to happen bad… going to happen that's bad. You're sweaty, you need this." I trip over my mouth, but finally gain my balance.

"Ohhhhh my god." She rolls her eyes and reaches to pull down her sweats. _Can't fucking resist meeee beautiful. _So full of myself, I twist my body, flirting my ass, and then decide to dip my hair under the hot water so my hair can be sleeked back.

Talia steps in, still in her sports bra and some black boy shorts. "Okay, but we're actually washing ourselves." She states, hand gesturing like a stop sign.

"What elseeee would we do in here?" Her fingers curl into fists and her eyes look down at my body. I can tell Talia doesn't know what to say back, because her lips are parted and her teeth are gritted. "Still out of breath from that workout huh?" I charm.

Talia grabs some liquid soap and pours it into her hand. "Actually, it was yoga, very intense yoga. And by the way, you're a ridiculous flirt, butttt… I love it." She grabs my neck with her very soapy hands and starts rubbing. "You actually have some dirt on you and there is grass in your hair… where the hell were you?"

"Uhm ummmuuuuum…" Trying to remember my night, I turn to let Talia go under the water. "Well my mom left yesterday to go, go be with, with my dad. And I was all sad because of Hannah. More pissed rather than sad… I don't know what to, to do. I was questioning how the hell we're gonna get her out of jail… then I grabbed some whiskey…" Talia stops lathering her hair in shampoo and puts her head out of the current, wiping the water off her face with her hands to listen to me. "And… because I've like, been so… I don't know… negative, I didn't want to be with anyone because I feel like a burden right now… so I went to the park up the street from my house to drink and look at stars…"

Talia washes the shampoo out of her hair quickly and grabs my curves softly. I look down, feeling shy all of a sudden; but I notice her scars. This time I see her other leg and it's worse than I thought it would be, compared to her left one which I already saw. Feeling like it's not my place to observe them, I step into her with my arms curled into my chest; putting my head on her shoulder. She sighs and wraps around me, her hands feeling the indents on my back. "Kay, one… you're never, _ever_ going to be a burden to me. Two… she's innocent, that isn't forever, and you know what… I was in jail for two days, it was a cool experience, she'll be fine... let's not get into that though. Three…" Talia slaps my ass playfully; I'm stunned and she laughs into my neck. "You. You drove here. I looked out my balcony and saw your car in the parking lot. Babe, what the fuck… I'm laughing, but that's not safe."

"It was… I know… but it was like… two blocks. I'm not thinking obviously okayyy?" I'm giggling back. "Explain this jail _ex-peer-ee-awwnce_."

"Not now… another time. We need to wash you before I stop forcing myself to look only at your face." She smirks leaning back, and that _certain_ dimple stands out. "Okay?" I nod and press my lips to hers, letting her aura fill me for a minute or so. As she smiles against me, peppering three more little smooches, she grabs shampoo and squeezes it on top of my hair, so I rub it in; knowing we're both completely content right now with just spending time with each other. We both switch back and forth continuing to wash ourselves, though, I myself continue to grow aroused as her abs flex and her toned body seems to wave in the water.

_Thump._

Talia widens her eyes concerned looking at me, while her hand is stuck down her sports bra to soap her breasts. "Uh… did you hear that." I just nod, mirroring her expression. _That was a fucking loud noise._

We hear three loud knocks on the door of the washroom. "Talia!? Where the fuck is it? _My _wedding ring! We had an agreement you wouldn't keep it. Give… give it now. I know you took it."

Talia grits her teeth and her eyes flutter shut with frustration. "Oh shit… Emily I'm so fucking sorry I don't… What the fuck." She whispers obviously angry while confused.

"Is that Eric!?" I say under my breath back while getting the last of the shampoo out of my hair.

"Yes, shit. We got into a terrible argument yesterday. Please stay here. I'm sorry." She turns off the shower head._ What the hell? How the hell did he get in? Oh… fuck, I didn't lock the door._

Talia slides the shower door open; this situation starts to frighten me because Eric sounds outrageously angry. My mind starts to question why someone in their right mind would do this over a wedding ring, in _this _manner. I'm instantly feeling sobered up as I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around me; the shower also made me feel like I could handle myself better.

"Must I say fucking please?!" Eric yells through the wall.

"God damn it Eric, hold on!" Talia throws back at him as she slips on sweats overtop of her soaking boy shorts. "Uhm… Em, agh… I don't care." Talia opens a standing cupboard quickly, and pulls out a baggy hoodie. I see her turn her back from me, and she slips her sports bra off over her head. This action makes me gulp as I look to find my shirt. She puts her hoodie on and gives me a red sweater and blue sweats.

"Go into the corner so he doesn't see you, if you care." She says almost inaudible while she points. Talia strains her wet hair into the sink and flips it all to one side. Wiping the little running mascara and eyeliner from under her eye, she then opens the door connecting to the living room. "Eric. You can't do this. I don't know how you got in, but you need to calm down and go over to the front door."

"Don't even tell me… what to do until you give the ring back." I hear Eric say angrily at her, slurring.

_I have to go out there, what the hell am I doing, he could be violent or something._ "I'll get you you're fucking ring just get out of my face. This is ridiculous Eric!" My girlfriend spits back at him, and hearing her talk like this makes me feel weird, but I realize the fact that she is acting like this is only because he is probably being an asshole out there.

I get fully changed and also drain my hair out in the sink, wiping my makeup so I don't look like a raccoon. I get my phone out of my jeans on the floor, making sure I have it set to emergency call for the police, just in case things get out of control.

"You know what, I told you _so_ many times that you had to make a decision… leave or just stay. But no, you fucking used me for years. I know you say you love me and I'm your best friend – but fuck you Talia! You could have cut me off sooner before I thought I was spending the rest of my life with you! Fuck you! You had me so _fucking_ fooled!" His voice booms.

"Eric… for the last time I told you, I know I was an idiot.. but our time spent together was good for both of us, we helped each other get through a difficult… wait, are you coked up!?"

This is when I step out, because their yelling started to sound more, and more violent.

"Oh look, your… your bitch decided to come out. I knew she was in there. Really though? Shower sex was our thing_, honey_." He mutters with distaste looking over her shoulder, and I now can tell he is absolutely drunk, probably more than I was earlier. His black hair seems to stand up all over the place, and his eyes are wandering everywhere as well. Talia holds her stance and doesn't look back at me, while he gets up close to her looking directly eye level; as they're the same height. "And for the record, I haven't seen a day where I haven't snorted blow since… since… I guess when you told me that we're done. So yeah, again, fuck you. You've really fucked me up and I can't pretend I'm the happy best friend anymore that says _good for you,_ every time you do something more and more that distances you and I... apart. Okay!? Fuck you." He grits with his teeth in her face and I walk up to be a couple feet behind Talia, leaning on the back of the couch. _I don't even know what to think of this… How do I not feel drunk anymore…? Damn I have a headache though._

"Fuck Eric. Go to the door." Talia lets out in a puff pointing towards the exit, one hand on her forehead. "Just please go to the door. I can't deal with you right now… I'm getting your ring and you're leaving. I'm calling a cab for you as well... you need to get home safe."

I see Eric's face start to turn red and he's holding back some tears, he pushes Talia's shoulders while spitting, "Don't fucking act like you care about me. You wouldn't have used me if you cared. I'm broken because of you, I feel like I'm nineteen again and want out of life. I want _out_."

Seeing this all play out reminds me of how even when someone is trying to do the right thing – somebody can get hurt no matter what. People will get hurt, and even though this is just a simple example, I start getting emotional because I know this is extremely tough on Talia, as well as the fact the situation is terrible. Nobody can win – because there is nothing to be won; if agreement isn't possible, that's that. I decide not to intervene, or do anything when Eric pushes Talia's shoulders slightly again, because I know Talia can handle him; she has been married to him for four years. This has probably happened in some way shape or form before.

"You've treated me like shit for years, being a good person doesn't mean you don't subconsciously do things like lead me on. In fact, you knew you could never be with me forever, but you fucking made sure I thought you would be." Eric yells right in her ear emotionally; she is looking to the right of him, staring at the same spot, not budging. From this angle, I can see the left side of her face moving at her temples, as her teeth clench together.

"Talia, I'll get the ring, where is it." I ask, trying to help in a miniscule way.

"Not that I want her to touch it… at least I'll get out of here. And by the way, Emily, even though you're a woman – which for _some reason_ Talia here, can't seem to give up her urge to want different body parts _fucking her_ – you better watch your back from her. Not me. Her. She's a fucking liar and a coward, but she'll stab you good." Eric says screaming at her with mockery, putting his hands behind his head and turning to the door. I don't have anything to say back, because even though she might have done terrible things to him, it doesn't mean I have to be afraid of even giving her a chance. Besides, people change, people grow, and people learn.

"Top dresser in a box, you'll see it." Talia tells me looking at the ground; her voice wavers with embarrassment and hurt; though, she stays in the same place with crossed arms. I quickly go and find it in her dark wood dresser beside the window in her bedroom. Finding it right away in a small rectangular box, I notice the drawer is full of CDs, guitar string packages, and other guitar knick-knacks. I look at the ring I'm holding, one big diamond with small yellow ones around it. The inside of the silver ring has an engraving that says, "True love." _Well, now I know what I shouldn't get her… wow, I can't believe I'm fucking thinking about that right now. I must be a terrible person, or I'm just… ugh. This is actually kind of insane though. This, all this. Except for the fact I'm falling for her…_

"Here." I say with a concerned look, walking out of the bedroom, handing it to my girlfriend. She nods and I see she's now dreaded with tear stains. Talia twists on one foot to go over to Eric, he just grabs it and opens her door.

"I'll call a cab for you, for the front entrance." She manages to get out, before he slams the door.

I pull out my cell phone from my sweats and see I have two unread texts, but I go to phone the local cab company. "Hi, can I get a cab for Eric?"

"Yep, street name and number?" A man on the other line asks nonchalantly. This makes me feel a weird vibe, because connecting with someone irrelevant to me, makes my mind race about how indifferent we all are to each other.

"Uhm… the Rose Vermont apartment building, the main entrance. It's… the same street at the Rosewood police apartment." I stutter, biting my lip. I see Talia wringing her wrist as she turns, eyeing me.

"Yep, we got it. Cab will be there in ten minutes."

"Thanks." My manners speak.

"No problem."

I hang up as Talia comes over to the couch and sits on the back of it, wiping her eyes while letting out a shaky room is silent; completely dead. I realize that the music playing when I got here, must have been stopped by Eric, as I see Talia's laptop is now closed compared to being open earlier. I breathe in and out, exactly twelve times each, letting Talia have some thoughts to herself as she sits still, looking at the ground. She gets up and heads towards the washroom, so I saunter over to sit down at her breakfast bar. In less than ten seconds she is sitting beside me with the water she got for me earlier; playing with the fog steamed up on the glass. I weirdly count in my head five more breaths before I speak.

"Talia…"

She closes her eyes, taking a sip of the water, and then slides it over to me. I take it so my dry mouth can relax. My beautiful girlfriend sighs. "I'm _so_ sorry…"

"Shh. Baby don't." I take her left hand with my right, propping my head up with my elbow. "You don't have to explain anything, you don't have to say anything… at least right now. I just need to make sure you're okay."

"No… you really shouldn't have had to see that." She tells me, showing her anger. "That was really fucked up. We've never fought like that in front of anyone, ever. Also, we _have_ fought, like that… but not like…_ that_. I think you know… what I mean." She wipes her face even though no tears are seen. "Did that sober you up a little? You like, seem totally alert... like you're swaying still but…"

"I guess when I _need_ to be alert I can be with alcohol… my head is still spinning but I fully know what I'm doing." I tell her truthfully, trying to make my voice sound soft and reassuring.

"I need to thank you maybe five times or more. You handled that greatly… thank you." She turns to me and takes both of my hands. Leaning over, she plants a peck on my cheek, but I grab her jaw line to bring her in for a real, sensual kiss; in my attempt to make sure she knows I am still with her. That me experiencing their fight, isn't going to be a big deal between her and I. I let my bottom lip seep in between hers slightly a few times before I decide to try and comfort her more.

"I'm going to say this now so it doesn't start worrying you - The things he said to me aren't going to bother me …and shouldn't bother you, at all." I look at her. My hand is on her thigh and she looks like she's going to start tearing up, as her face turns red. "Hey, hey, hey… okay, we're gonna talk, but first… your bum – it's soaking." I make sure I come across as light-hearted.

Talia chuckles sadly, scrunching her eyes brows up together. "Yeah… it is. I'll go change." She just gets up and leaves, that's all.

This is the first time I have seen her in this state. I want to be the best support I can be for her, so I decide to make tea, and find some bread to put in the toaster. Seeing a banana, I grab it and cut it up. It's now been a couple minutes longer that I expected Talia to be. I peer over to the washroom and the door is closed, and well as the bedroom. _Hmmm.___I spread some peanut butter on the slice, placing the cut banana on top of it. _Jeez, this has been quite a night… this is all a new experience to me. At least I'm learning about Talia though… fuck, it does feel like I've been dating her so long already; I mean, I have known her for a while now…_ Taking the one plate with two slices, and the tea mug, I go to the bedroom door. As I lean my ear against it, I hear some sort of piano music, with soft, faint lyrics; probably coming from a speaker as it's a male voice. "Tal?"

After a few moments, I hear Talia. "Sorry I can't get the door, it's unlocked though… come in."

_Can't get it? _I manage to juggle what I'm holding and turn the knob. She's sitting on the side of the bed, facing the tall window. I can see the street lamp glow, giving her angled silhouette a faint outline.

"I have food…" I tell her, kneeing onto the bed placing my items on the bedside table. Talia doesn't respond. She's now just in some boy shorts and her hoodie. I sit to the right of her, feet on the ground, and when I start to stare at her face she looks at me. She literally… just looks at me, and I don't know what to say._ What the fuck is she thinking?_ Her face is unreadable, though the one thing I can tell - she is thinking about me. This is when she makes eye contact, and I feel totally connected to her – as we were last week when I dared her to stare at me; this time though, it's making me numb. I go to speak, but my lips immediately forget what I was even thinking of saying. I let out a huff. "Talia… what is it? Are you okay?" She still stares at me, not answering. "Do you want me to get you something other than food? I would drive you somewhere if you wanted, but I'm still to tipsy… yeah? I can also go, if you need time alone…" I ask seriously, simply trying to care for her. _Why is she still not answering!? _"¿Va a hablar español? Water? A massage? Some-"

"Em." Her eyes flutter to close, momentarily.

"Yes…?" I nod, keeping my eyes on her.

"Shut up." She breathes to me, but in a way that she's smiling – and I now know why she hasn't been responding, though I try and put up and act.

"What? Why? I'm just-" She slowly lifts her hand to my cheek, making sure she's not too far from my lips, which stops my sentence.

"Em." She challenges, gesturing she wants me to kiss her.

I raise my eye brows smirking, "Huh? Sorry… am I missing something?" I ask, though my tone gives away that I'm purposely ignoring her signals. I see her poke her lip out once.

"No… you aren't." After staring at my lips for so long, she looks up. Her eyes meet mine and I understand her double meaning.

I put my forehead to hers, and after some low beats of the music passes, our lips roll into one another. She almost immediately bites my lip and I'm being pulled into her more; and she's biting _hard_. Feeling her full lips soothe and suck on my bottom one, I purposely release a noise of pleasure so she knows that even though I'm in pain, I'm enjoying her aggressiveness. She smiles. I decide to reach my right hand around under her shoulder blade to pull her closer, and with this motion she pushes my collarbone back to lean over me; our lips in sync. Her face leans up for a second so I cheekily get her back, biting her lip just as hard as she did, pulling her with my arms to straddle me. I'm almost holding my head straight up, and she strokes my hair back and holds my head. I'm holding her hips, letting my fingers sink into her skin. All of a sudden she puts her weight on her right knee to swing past me and grab my arm, landing her back on the bed. Talia is subconsciously biting her lip, and I see her wink.She tugs my arm slightly and I take a moment to look at her; though my thoughts don't go anywhere, at all. My body complies and goes to go over her, letting my legs go around hers. I feel hot all over, but know I don't want to get any cooler. My girlfriend takes and holds my hand outwards and I'm pressing it against the bed, taking my other palm to her jaw, letting my tongue dip into her. She moans, sucking on me and this is _really_ when my thoughts go blank. I trail my hand up her forearm to her neck to further hold onto her, and I feel my spine get goose bumps when her hands go up my hoodie, to my curves. I let out a huff against her lips as she drags her nails against my skin.

"I see you like that." She states through her teeth as she kisses me harder.

"Mhmm." I buzz on her while nodding; my confidence in how I feel about her sparks. I pull up to be on my knees, crossing my arms to hold the bottom of my hoodie, then wait. Talia is speechless and I raise my eye brow, smirking looking down at her. My expression questions her; her grin tells me she isn't stopping me. I pull my hoodie over my head, fully knowing I don't have anything underneath; though she didn't. Tossing it to my left, I decide to not bother reading her expression when she squeezes my thighs and hip bone. I lean back down to roll my body on her, _seeping_ our lips together; this is when she starts to grab my ass, trailing her hands along my back to in between my shoulder blades.

I stutter a breath into her mouth, and then go for her neck. Wanting more of her I suck hard and she lets out a heavy exhale in my ear. I seem to love her skin in between my teeth, so I go all the way down her neck until I hit her hoodie. "Talia…" I whisper; she pushes me up and as soon as possible takes her hoodie over her head. I sit on her lap with my knees still to her sides, and she pulls me against her, making our nipples rub against each other. This overwhelms me as I hold her jaw, and she licks the roof of my mouth. Finding her tongue with mine I then grab onto it with my lips, blowing it, making sure I suck with a rhythm.

Talia leans back and puts her mouth against the front of my neck. Breathing heavily, "Em," She trails her nose up to my chin, "I really want you."I feel her teeth bite my pulse point and I sharply inhale. My dark vision has felt hazy, and don't realize what she said until her palm presses up my rip cage to my breast. Though, I don't hesitate to put my head down and press my mouth against her hard, pushing her onto the bed again.

"You have me." I murmur, letting my hands travel up to her nipple, pinching it once making her moan through her lips.

"Baby…" Talia breathily speaks out, and I feel her smiling wide against my lips.

"Mhmm?"I feel her vibe change from hot and aroused to something indescribable. She doesn't say anything else, but instead pushes me and flips us so she's on top. My neck starts to feel tender after her continued suction of bites; so almost trying to swallow her lip, I reach to inch her boy shorts off her ass. She realizes my gesture and helps me get them down her seemingly endless legs. My hands hold onto her hip tightly, bringing her down onto me fully, though a sudden pressure is now between my legs; her thigh, and she grinds into me through my sweats. I can't help but inaudibly mouth "Fuck," because I thought I was about to flip her back over. She follows through with grinding into my centre, and leans down to kiss between my breasts, so she can pull my final article of clothing off; I have no idea what she does with it, but not caring I trail my hand along her abs. She beautifully runs her hand through her hair, smiling at me, keeping her weight on her knees and elbows; then grabs my jaw to kiss me again, slipping her tongue _deep_ into me. My body waves and I start to tease her ass and thighs as she is above me; I push her tongue back into her mouth with mine. With her legs spread apart above me I go to drag my finger down her abs to then cup her centre, holding it there while she continues to desperately blow my tongue and lips. "You're sexy, and you're _soaking_…" I tell, as she pulls my lip, snapping it back while making a throaty moan. Her confidence amuses me when she starts to wave her hips down against me, making my hand cup her harder when the back of it presses against my skin. I let my other hand grab onto the back of her hip; then move my middle finger to glide along the outside of her. Stroking right in her centre only, she just starts to pump her hips against me more. As she goes to suck my pulse point, I slowly let my finger go a tiny bit deeper, teasing her, not touching her clit.

"Fuck Emily." She grits with a moan.

"Oh, I know." My voice playfully growls; I push her shoulder getting her to roll to the side of me, cupping her again until our lips attach. My heart races as she holds her palm against my collar bone, hair everywhere against a pillow. I put my tongue through her lips and she lets out all of her air through her nose, making her breaths completely uneven when I slowly push inside of her. Feeling her tremble beneath me when I let my finger drag out, makes my heart question my love for her; and I don't know how I fell this fast. My finger trail inside her, letting it drag out fully again. Though now, I'm finding her sweet spot, stroking it as she growls M's in my ear. Her breathing starts to become heavier so I push in a second finger. "Is that okay, _beautiful_?" I whisper. She nods kissing my jaw, and now I'm starting to pump harder as I grab onto her back, leaning down to take a nipple in my mouth; loving how erect it is. She's scratching my shoulder, holding the back of my neck down as suck her breast.

"Em." She stutters as I push deep a few more times. I decide to pull my fingers out and finally rub her wet, tender clit back and forth; making her fingers limply drag around me. I want her to feel even more amazing; her hands grasp my neck and hair with ache when I push a finger back inside of her. I scoot down my body further to kiss her, making her squirm. She moans out a few F's barely, and I glide another finger back deep into her; just holding it there. I now am poking with my hot tongue, hard and rhythmic. Being built up before I went down, within seconds she reaches her limit, though I don't stop kissing, letting my whole jaw relax into her as she grasps the bed. Her climax seems powerful, and I feel her drip onto my finger a bit, completely satisfied with how I made her feel. I kiss up to her stomach, letting my wet lips leave a trail along her abs; them moving fast. I grasp onto her sides to suck her skin, but she grabs my cheek and pulls me up to her lips; breathing heavily on mine, to then give me a long lustful press. "Talia…" I say, not knowing where I want to go with my words as I have so many options.

"Shh…" Is her gesture, but she continues. "Though I won't be able to… make you feel like you just… made me feel… let me make love to you Em…"

"You just did babe…" I say, knowing the truth; and also knowing she's completely exhausted after all that has happened today. "I just want to be close to you… that's all I need right now. I know you're tired hun… just hold me." I nuzzle my nose into her neck, hoping I'm not making her feel insecure – because giving her ecstasy was more than fulfilling.

"But… are you sure?" She asks sounding worried, and I'm peppering kisses on her jaw.

Though I know it's too soon I ask a question. "I'm absolutely positive, and you want to know why?"

She holds onto my neck, "Why…?"

I decide not to answer, because I don't want to say _it_ yet. I take her mouth in mine, and she starts to relax, getting the hint. I smile on her cheek, "Baby let's get in the sheets." Talia scoots up and we crawl underneath to be nakedly intertwined. We lay there for a few moments, and I notice how many hickies I gave her.

"You know…" Talia starts grinning taking a deep breath, "You just… wow, Em…" Her words don't exactly make sense but I know what she's getting at.

"Mhmm." I smile and nod, playing with my finger on her tone torso.

She turns on her side and holds my hip, eyeing me up and down smirking. "Just so you know…" She pauses, making sure she chooses her words. "This isn't unrequited… okay?"

Hearing her say that makes me feel warm, and appreciated. "You're correct." I kiss her forehead keeping my head there until she starts to fall asleep. After feeling her breathe softly for a while, I laugh to myself thinking about how we didn't eat or drink what I made. My eyes are closed and I question if I'm hungry, but before I know it I'm dreaming about when Talia helped me fix my empanadas. Though, it turns into kissing her against The Brews kitchen counter as Ezra walks in; without any understanding of what he should do. He walks out awkwardly, and we continue.

**Mmmm….**

**Kay. Question: If you feel like it – tell me your favorite sentence in this chapter. ;)**

**Uhm… yeah that was my first time writing **_**that.**_** Hope you're… good. Yeah, good..**

**OKe... good - niiigghht beautiful.**

**Stay strong, always. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Wow, hi. I know, I skipped a week of posting… but I've been kinda overwhelmed recently, and haven't been home much – but I have news that I hope you'll be glad for. I got accepted into a program that is residential, which is going to help me figure myself out… and I guess to just put it out there is that it's for mental health. I'm getting help **** I thought I would have to wait until the fall, but my councilor pushed for me to get in early… (Though I've already been waiting three months.) **

**I'm really happy and relieved about it, and I'm so thankful I'm on my second step to recovery.**

**I believe I'll have my laptop while I'm there so I'll probably write… **** Gonna have A LOT of time to myself, and I leave in a week… anyway… WE FIND OUT WHO **_**A**_** IS TONIGHT. AH. It's sorta 2:30 am… so I guess that it means tonight. I think. THIS IS GOING TO CHANGE EVERYTHING! It actually might change lives; no it will change people's lives… lol, a lot.**

**The 40****th**** review shoutout goes to… the beautiful Redherring. I guess I shouldn't be worried after all **** People seemed to love it.. and I think that was one of my favorite sentences too! "Can't fucking resist meeee, beautiful." Haha..**

**Next is 60****th**** review - which means yes, meaning however long it takes me, I still plan to continue.**

**I love how people refer to things in this as "Scenes" and "Lines" … like they're watching a show.**

**Much love to all of you.**

**Annnnnnddd…**

**Wait…**

**Nope, not yet.**

**Okay, fine.**

**Go~**

**Talia POV.**

The clock is _ticking_ off the wall, filling the living room with an undeniable stress; meaning if the walls could speak, they would be pissed off. Passing time - imagine a wall from dawn to dusk; all those ticks and tocks. This train of thought really gets to me, and I can't stand the waiting game anymore. Looking up at the clock from my couch once more, while being completely aggravated, I read 4:12pm. _Holy fuck I'm impatient right now… _This makes me get up to remove the time piece, taking out the batteries to place it on my coffee table. _Okay, she's over forty minutes late, I'm calling._

Emily, Spencer, and Aria, were probably doing something important; probably trying to figure out the misleading hidden message they found in Mona's room. And though I know Emily can handle herself, she was supposed to be here after Alison's trial meeting. So now, here I am; a worried girlfriend because _A _could probably do anything at anytime, to Emily and the others.

I get my phone from the kitchen counter to call.

"Hi, this is Emily Fields. If you could please leave your name and number I'll get back to you soon. Thanks." Her professional voicemail plays out.

"Shit." I mutter, hanging up and trying again.

"Talia? I'm so sorry. I just pulled out my phone; it was on silent because we had to turn them off in the court. Uhm. It went longer than expected…"

"It's okay… I was just a little worried. Is longer good or bad?"

"Umm…" Emily pauses. _Crap…_ "Some interesting new information spilled out and it might affect the jury. I don't really know. Alison looked scared to death the whole time. We don't know what to think."

"Interesting new information? Okay…"

"Yeah… look do you want to come to my place instead? I'll meet you there. Then we don't have to go from your place to mine like yesterday with two vehicles." She smartly points out. "You could have stayed at my house you know…"

"I know, I just felt… sorry, it's just that your mom doesn't know about us yet, and I felt weird so that's really why I came here." I let out the truth, knowing I said that I forgot my tooth brush; which I knew was the _dumbest_ excuse ever.

"I _knew_ you tasted minty this morning. It's small, but don't lie to me hun, even if it's that… it's okay though I'm not mad at all. It makes sense." She laughs. "I'm in my car now… see you in twenty of so?"

"Yep… sounds good. See youuu, _Emmy_…" I say with a baby voice, still trying to bug her about her cute nickname I found out about when she was on the phone with her parents the other day.

"Oh shuuusssh. I told you, he's called me that since I was five. I know it sounds babyish… whatever… you know it's adorable."

"_Byeee._" I ring through the phone and hang up grinning. I'm smiling for a few minutes as I tie my hair up and get on a black jean jacket; but then a certain fact starts bugging me. I end up getting to my car and go to pull out my keys – only I find out they're not in my purse.

"Damn it." I say, knowing I left them on the kitchen counter. This happens to me probably once or twice every two weeks, and I usually end up losing my shit in the parking lot for letting it happen over, and over again. Not that I'm too lazy to go back up to my apartment, it's just annoying that when I'm on auto-pilot I can be a dumbass.

"Fuck it, I'm walking." I decide to myself, knowing Emily's house is about a fifteen minute walk anyway. _Why do we even drive to each other's places? I used to walk everywhere before I got a car. Everywhere._

The stroll is nice until I start thinking about the fact that has bugged me all day; Emily's family doesn't know I'm her girlfriend. Though, what bugs me more is that I haven't spoken to my dad in almost a month, and he has no idea I'm queer. _What am I? Anyway? Do I even need a label? If I called myself a lesbian would people disagree because I was with a man? _I start to puzzle myself, surprised I haven't put much thought about what I identify as. With not very much knowledge at all about labels and identity, I decide to wait and have a talk with Emily about it; as I know she probably is the type to know a lot more than me.

Finally reaching her house I notice her car isn't home so I sit on the front porch, seeing that we left out our tea mugs out on the table. I figured it was bound to happen when I decided to kiss her _that_ hard on the porch swing-seat last night. Flashbacks occur about yesterday night when Emily's car pulls up. I go over to her car and open the door over her.

"Hola, hermosa." I greet as she gets out of the car but I this is when I notice her face is red and her brown eyes are blood shot.

She puts her purse on her shoulder and reaches around my shoulders for a hug. "Hi…" She sniffs.

"Awh babe," I say empathetically into her hair,"let's go inside and lay down."

"Hold on. Hug me longer I almost got into a car accident on the way here, I was distracted and stressed."

"What…"

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, obviously I'm not going to ask if you're alright because that's a stupid question right now… but did anybody get hurt or?"

"No." She releases from my hug, closes her door and gets to the porch with me to take out her keys. "I couldn't fucking see because of my tears so I thought I could turn at an intersection cause I saw a green light blink, which I thought was a turn left light thingy… and really it was a normal green light, and I almost T-boned a car and- oh my god… what_ is _that?" Emily opens the door with her face is in shock.

"What? What is it?" I go past her and realize the wall. "What…" A small, window-like mural, done with what looks like mostly acrylic paint covers a reasonable portion of Emily's living room wall. We walk in further to look at it, and I notice a little _A_ fancy scripture signature at the bottom right. Metal bars span the rectangle piece, and between the bars is a night sky full of stars. Some paint droops in streaks from it and has reached the carpet.

I walk up to it and see there is rolled up note on the couch. "That's it." I hear Emily's voice let up behind me. "I give up. I can't handle this anymore and I'm screwed. I'm done trying to figure out how to fight back. I'm just gonna let things happen." Her voice falters and I know she is going to start breaking down even more.

"Emily…" I turn around holding the note. "You can't give up. You're not going to go to jail…"

I unroll the note and read the Spanish, surprised I understand it so well. Of course I see my name in the paragraph first, though.

"I wouldn't be surprised if _A _manages to get me in jail. What does the note say?" She crosses her arms.

Letting out a sigh I look back down at the note. "Look. The note is literally irrelevant. It's just some Spanish trying to antagonize you."

"Talia please read it to me." She huffs.

"Basically it's saying that I… as in _me_… that I already know that sometimes jail can have a nice view, and that I should assure you it isn't that bad… which is ridiculous."

"What the hell… _A_ has to drag you into this? Really?!" She exclaims slamming the front door. I walk over to her and take her hands as her face turns more red; though I completely understand her aggravation.

"Hey… It's fine. I'm not that worried about it. Even though this means that _A_ has access to police files… knowing that I went to jail…"

"It isn't okay. You're my fucking girlfriend and this asshole has no right to start threatening you when you're an innocent bystander. I mean yeah I expected this but… god damn it. Let's search the house, we don't know if anyone is even in here, or not." She wipes her eyes slightly and goes to the fireplace to get a metal rod that people use to poke fires. She trudges off through her house quickly and I follow her fast lead, angrily checking all the rooms, closets, and corridors. Her being angry is hot, but I know in this situation that is the least important thing I _should_ be thinking about.

We go to her room after; her slowly eating some soup I made for her at her desk, while I try and think of something positive to talk about, even though all that I can think about is negative thoughts and worrying. I move around on her window seat looking at the sun setting. An idea pops into my head.

"Em… want to go out on a date? Later?"

She takes another minute to finish eating and comes over to sit beside me.

"Yes." She smiles; and it's the first smile I've seen since this morning. "But, I'm taking you somewhere."

"Oh really?" I challenge with my brow.

"Yes, it's my turn. You took me to the mountain the other night, which counted as a date."

"Huh, alright… when do you want to leave?" I ask, curious as to where we're going.

"In an hour or so… it's, "she stretches her neck to look at a clock, "only five thirty. I want you to eat something before we go."

"Okay." I say. Taking her hand and leaning into her to kiss her on the cheek. "I wanted to ask you something… two things actually. Well maybe even three things."

"Shoot."

"They're all sort of big topics though." I'm wary about talking about these things, because I don't know what she will think; or what she will want.

"It's okay." She tells me giving me a warm smile; the one that lets me know she is open and happy to listen to me.

"Uhm… I don't really know how to go about this. I guess I'm like… okay would you consider me a lesbian? Or what label am I? Cause I'm not sure."

"Talia. Do you even need a label…? I find it doesn't really matter, at all. I mean, I call myself gay but I'm not going to say I'm _disgusted _by men, though some lesbians are. Lots of men are attractive, I just want to _be with_ a woman; and I don't feel a connection to guys like I do with girls… I consider myself a lesbian because I don't want to date guys because I don't feel romantic with them... make sense?" She explains to me while twisting her fingers around mine repeatedly. "And don't be afraid to say anything, I wanna know how you feel."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Well I think I feel the exact same way as you, but when I look back to when I was around nineteen, I knew I liked women, I knew I was a lesbian; though I still slept with guys because to me that was just a feeling and a way to have fun… forget about the fact I married Eric, that's a different story. But can people still be lesbian and sleep with men for fun? Cause I don't _feel_ bi…" _God she probably thinks I was a slut… gah don't call yourself a slut Talia. Well I was… was I? I don't have an STD so there isn't proof. Proof? What? _

"Uhm…" Emily chuckles a bit," I don't make the rules of being gay," She says sarcastically, giving me a flirt, "but I have definitely heard of lesbians sleeping with men. I don't think you should let anyone else's opinions matter though. Whatever you label yourself is what you are."

"Okay." I nod staring at one spot. "I guess so… anyway that sort of leads into the other topic I wanted to talk about. Um, my dad doesn't know I'm gay and I haven't spoken to him in a month. He doesn't know Eric and I even split…"

"Oh… okay. Well I know your mom is out of the picture basically; right? The only thing I know is that you don't talk much anymore."

"I don't know…" My parents were a tricky subject to talk about; them being divorced since I was nine kind of fucked my family up. "It's been a while… I kinda stopped caring to talk to her."

Emily frowns hearing this, and I feel terrible about telling her. "How long is a while…?"

"Two years or something." I say quietly. Emily looks at me thinking I'm going to continue explaining. Even though I don't exactly want to talk about my mom right now with already such a drama-filled day, I go on. "She and I didn't really get along. Or it's not that we didn't get along, because we could about simple things… but bigger things made us fight too much."

"You said your parents are divorced… when?" Emily asks, noticeably empathetic.

"I was nine. I would mostly stay with my dad, which was here in Rosewood. My mom moved to just outside of New York and I visited her on holidays and the odd weekend, but that was basically it. I'm super close with my dad though; just haven't spoken to him much since I got the job at The Brew."

"So… you don't think you want her back in your life?"

"It's not that I don't… it just wouldn't be healthy. At least right now." This all comes out and I realize I hope this conversation doesn't go much further.

"Okay…" I look at Emily as she draws patterns on the back of my hand. "Talia I think I want to ask you about something, I just don't want you to get mad I'm going to bring it up." Now, I'm extremely nervous, almost petrified about what she might ask. "Do you not want to speak to your mom anymore because of your depression? Does she affect it…you? Negatively?"

"Oh." _She see's right through me._ I haven't brought up anything about mental health before with her; I just can never tell when it's a good time to talk about it. "I didn't think you could… _tell_." Is all I state, not answering her question; nervous.

"Tal... I understand. Okay?" She assures me, seemingly almost at random.

"Okay." I get up and go to lean on her bed frame, feeling a little anxious about the topic. "Umm. Yeah, you could say she contributed, a lot."

"So, Eric helped keep you stable, I'm guessing that's why you ended up marrying him?" She cautiously, half asks, half tells.

"Yeah. I… needed someone. I couldn't be alone." I look up at her starting to feel self conscious. Opening up about my internal battle has never been easy to tell anyone.

"Hey, we don't have to talk about this right now if you don't want to."

"I do. It's just tough."

Emily comes over to in front of me, placing her arms on my shoulders. "Look… maybe we can talk about this another time, we've sort of swayed off topic anyway. Your dad though, you want to tell him?"

"I do. I'll probably tell him within the next few days. Umm. Your mom comes home not tomorrow but the day after, right?"

"Oh, uh… yeah." Emily's tone knows where this is going.

"Well…"

"I know… I just… I mean I guess we could. I don't know what she'll think though."

"What could be the problem other than that I'm five years older than you? Age is just a number. You're more mature than thirty year olds I know, Em."

"It's not the age… well it's the age a bit, but it's not like we're illegal. I guess I'm just scared. I haven't exactly explained to you what happened when I… fell out of the closet."

"She didn't take it very well?"

"Yeah. You could say that." Her voice trembles and Emily starts getting emotional. "Fuck sorry." She goes to sit down on her bed, her eyes shut tight.

Confused, but not all confused, I sit beside her to rub her back. "Don't be sorry. Explain though, help me understand. What just happened, where did your head go?"

"Maya."

"Oh…"

"_A_ sent a picture my mom of us kissing. Then my mom thought I was going through a phase. God, she probably still does." She flips her hair out of her face. "She did everything she could to get Maya away from me; and she did by telling her parents she smoked pot. She got sent to a camp... for three months. And I don't really care what people think if I blame my mom, but I know it's probably ninety percent my mom's fault Maya's dead. She wouldn't of met Na-... Lyndon." Her eyes are still closed and I can tell she's extremely angry, and upset. She looks like she could use something like beating up a punching bag.

I want to understand more so I continue to ask questions. "Who's Lyndon…?"

"Talia. Do you really want to know all this? I don't know if it be good to tell you."

"I… I do."

"Well, I killed him. I killed a guy who told me he was Maya's cousin – though he was really a stalker who killed Maya. Maybe it was self defense, or maybe I had a weird advantage when we fought… but I killed a man. With a knife. Into his chest. And every day I think about it. I still don't even know if Lyndon had anything to do with _A_." _Whoa._ Though this doesn't frighten me, or anything of the sort, I get a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. _Emily must have terrible nightmares._ "It's okay, there isn't a specific way to reply to that." She manages to get out trying to hold back more angry tears. She hasn't looked at me this whole time and I can tell this is tough for her.

"Emily…"

"Sometimes I can't stand my mom either. She's done a lot of shit I'm never going to forgive her for… all this stuff is going to haunt me for the rest of my life and I don't know what I'm going to do…" Emily looks turns to me and kisses my cheek with her wet face. "You're here though," she sniffles, "and honestly you're the best thing that has happened to me in a long time. You're the real deal, you're not going to stab me in the back, or torture my feelings."

"I'm not going to say anything for a bit. Let me hug you for a while. Alright?" I wrap my arms around her as she rests her head on my shoulder.

"I know this conversation has become really deep and… yeah it's too much right now. I'm happy we're opening up to each other more though…" I just hold her tighter. The room is silent other than Emily's sniffles and I notice the clock ticking. _Why does that bug me so much?_

_Tick-tock._

Thinking about time makes me get lost in thought. I question all the possibilities. Maybe I'm subconsciously thinking about this waiting game until we all catch _A_. Maybe I'm trying to be on auto-pilot until Emily and I can stop worrying about her going to jail. Maybe I think we're running out of time; because who knows, Emily _could_ end up in jail.

"Em…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm with you one hundred percent okay? Even if you end up…"

"Behind bars…? I wouldn't ask you to wait for me."

"I'm asking myself to wait for you and for… you to wait for me."

**Emily POV.**

_What? Wait for her? _"Wait for you? I'll be behind bars, I won't really have a choice." I tell her trying to be humorous.

"Maybe I've watched too much Orange is the New Black… but…"

This makes me laugh, finally; then I realize if anything I'll be in a Pennsylvania jail with Alison. _Oh no… why are we even thinking about this. It hasn't happened yet. Nope. Not going to think about spending jail time with Ali._

"But… you and Alison-" Talia starts.

"We're not going to go there. No way. This hasn't happened and isn't going to happen. I'm with you and…"

"And what… Alison doesn't mean anything to you at all anymore?" She asks, obviously trying to go about this in a subtle way.

I turn up to her. "Talia."

Talia nods, noticing how serious I probably look.

"We're not getting into that. Alison is out of the question in my love life. I have you. I want _you_. Now we're going to make something to eat… I'm done talking about jail, and death, and killing, and stupid people, and divorce, and every other depressing thing we just talked about." I manage to get out with a smile and a swing; a smile because I seem to have a burst of energy that wants to say _fuck it_ and escape for a while.

Talia takes my hand in response and gets up, leading me out the door to downstairs to make dinner. We get to the kitchen and start getting out ingredients for making a stir fry.

"Em, I'll by some paint tomorrow for the wall okay? I have my shift from eight until four… what time does the trial start?"

"Four. And depending on what happens, I couldn't tell you when it's going to end." I respond sighing.

"Okay, well then how about we pick up paint on the way home from our date tonight?" She asks, and I'm thankful she's trying to now stay away from talking about what could happen tomorrow.

"Okay…" My mouth slightly smiles, and I can't wait to take her to a lake tonight.

After dinner my thoughts start to become depressing; as all I can think about is the trial, and if Alison is going to get marked as guilty. I know Talia noticed because at every chance she can get she either squeezes my hand or wraps her arms around me. Right now her soft breath is on my neck and it's the only thing I hear. I'm trying to get us out the door but she keeps giving me kisses and hugs.

"Babe we need to change and get going." I whisper as she holds her nose on my cheek.

She sighs, "Fine," and takes off her top revealing her torso that I could stare at for days. I give her a knowing glance as she smirks and go to my dresser to give her a hoodie and sweats. Comfy is all I care about right now.

"Where are you taking me again?" Talia asks, as we finish changing and head downstairs.

"That is the fifth time you've asked and you're now being disciplined by closing your eyes." I exaggerate, grabbing a back pack from the living room I packed earlier and going to open the front door.

"It's the second actually…"

"Yeah, yeah."

The mildly long drive is accompanied by Talia singing along to a bunch of old classic Jazz artists. Her eyes are still shut, and I look over to her while she carries out a beautiful note. "We're almost there." I tell her.

"Can I open my eyes now?" Talia asks impatiently.

"You can open your eyes when I open mine." I say jokingly, and Talia peeks one eye open to check that I'm just kidding.

"You're silly," she says as she takes my hand, "but I love it."

"You love a lot of things about me huh?" This makes Talia quiet when I pull up to the gigantic open lake. I end up going to her side of my car, leading her out and taking her hand. I notice little boat tied to a dock_. Score. _

"I can smell it the water Emily."

"You can't smell water…

"You know what I mean." Talia says as I lead her to the boat, making sure her hand is gripped in mine tight so she doesn't trip.

We reach the end of the dock and I put my arms around her, placing my nose against her neck. "Okay. Open." I finally whisper almost exasperatedly.

Seeing the vast lake surrounded by a few cabins and forest, Talia doesn't do or say anything but sway in my arms. I know the lake is absolutely beautiful at night, as the stars reflect off the water and the air feels dreamy. _I wonder why nature is so attractive? I mean, isn't nature disgusting in some way shape or form? What is it about nature that makes it "beautiful?"_ My thoughts linger on as I stare past the tiny ripples of the water, letting my eyes then close; it suddenly feels like we've been standing here forever, though I'm alright with it. I sigh contently as Talia takes both my hands as they're around her stomach.

"Em…"

"Mhm?" I sound, my chin still resting on her shoulder.

"You know I love you, right?" She asks, no hesitation in her voice.

Caught off guard, but completely seeing how those words would come out of her mouth in this moment, my teeth start grinning widely and I bite my lip; and I guess I did know, because she has said it in a different way before. In the way she looks at me.

"I know." I whisper behind her ear, waiting a few moments. "And I also know… that love doesn't need time, or rules… And I know that you know… that I love you too."

"I need to kiss you." She mutters quickly as she turns around grabbing onto my cheeks with her sweater covered hands; though, I lean back.

"Nuh uh uh." I abbreviate cheekily and quiet, grinning because an idea randomly popped into my head. Talia stares at me looking extremely happy, but with her jaw dropped; probably because this was a weird time to do this. I step back. "You're gonna have to follow me to do that." My arms pull my hoodie over my head and I take off my sweater, then take of my sweats. She's in a _what the fuck are you doing_ state, which I find outstandingly amusing. "You kinda sorta love someone who's a little crazy."

Before she has time to say anything, I'm shrugging and jumping past her into the water, turning so I can watch her expression. A small shock hits my body after I submerge; realizing it's not that cold, I see that Talia is not delaying anytime to undress. Though unlike me, she takes off her bra. _Wow. _She does this extremely fast, and dives face first to right beside me, making sure I get splashed.

As tread water for a few seconds, Talia doesn't come up, so I swim to place my hand on the dock. I turn and count to ten seconds before I see Talia swimming underwater right in front of me, and as she comes up, grazing her body against mine, she holds my waste pushing me against the ladder of the dock. She's a little out of breath, but she's smiling wide when she laughs, taking my chin in her hand to bring my mouth to hers. Our lips soak together and she's completely determined to control everything I do right now. In fact, she ends up pinning me against the dock with her body so my hands go around her shoulders, and she grabs onto the ladder to hold us up. My legs wrap around her and I go to pinch the skin of her jaw line, lightly between my teeth.

"I think I'm a little crazy too." She rasps.

"For me." I say against her neck while sucking on it, making sure I leave love bites, like always.

"Ohhh yeah, definetly." Talia confirms in a breathily inhale as she stretches her neck to get her mouth to mine, slipping her tongue in me. Putting her arm around and under my thigh, I moan against her when she slips my panties to the side to stroke me gently, so gently I'm content with staying like this; though I'm completely speechless and I'm squirming whenever she adds more pressure with a flick.

"I love making you tremble."

I run my hand through my wet hair, flipping it over. "Mmm, I love you." I whisper, grabbing the back of her neck as the water lets us wave together, kissing her harder. Completely aroused, I feel her enter me, and I relieve a moan out into the air.

"Damn, that's sexy." She croaks against me, making my body tingle.

We end up getting out after a few minutes due to the wind picking up and it getting cold. Getting out a towel from the backpack I brought, we dry off each other before putting our clothes back on. "Want to just find somewhere along the water to sit? It's amazing out here… I just want to lay down and watch the universe with you." Talia asks looking at me warmly, her gorgeous eyes glimmering, catching my attention more than the thousands of stars above her.

"Sounds perfect." I reply, feeling lucky I get to be with her all night, and hopefully for many, _many_ more nights to come.

**Talia POV.**

"Em!" I call out down the stairs of Emily's house, trying to get her to stop from leaving for Alison's trial, which starts in twenty minutes.

She comes rushing to the bottom of the stairs. "Yeah?"

"I'm coming with you." I yell, going into her room, grabbing my purse, and then heading down the stairs.

"You are? Thank you…" Emily says looking relieved, as we head to the car.

Confused, I question her reply. "Thank you? You wanted me to come?"

"Yeah… I just didn't think you would want to, at all."

"I want to be there if it goes bad or not. If Alison ends up guilty…" I start to say.

"Which she's not." Emily says nonchalantly as she looks behind the back seat to back up the car.

"I know… but if they think she is, and she goes to jail for good… I just want to be there for you, cause I know it's going to be tough."

"Well, thank you…"

When things aren't looking good I start to worry more. Emily is sitting up at the front with Aria and Spencer, I'm two rows behinds them, and I have a really bad feeling building up under my ribcage. Recess ended a few minutes ago and Alison looks terrified. I would have tried speaking to her during the break, but I felt out of place; sometimes I try to comfort people at the wrong times and things end up getting worse. _I don't feel good, this doesn't feel good._ Emily looks over her right shoulder, but not at me; at a police man and a woman who's sitting directly in front of me. Seeing the woman turn and look back at Emily, I recognize her face, but can't put a name to it.

"Is it a go?" The police man whispers to her, and I'm surprised as they haven't spoken the whole time they were here.

"Yes, after the outcome." She says back to him nodding, checking her phone.

Five minutes later the room is heavy, and there seems to be a lull in the air. _Guilty, _is the last word of a sentence and my body paralyzes, thinking I heard wrong.

Emily stands up, looking back at me with a red face, clearly distraught. She turns back to Alison who looks more broken than Emily.

Three seconds pass. "Proceed." The woman in front of me says to the officer standing up. _What's happening._ My body involuntarily gets up to go over to Emily, but I see the officer turning around Spencer, pulling out his handcuffs.

"What are you doing? What did I do? Lieutenant Tanner, what did I do?" Spencer croaks at the woman.

"You may have not killed anyone, but you know what you've done. You're all being arrested." Lt. Tanner says without a flinch. _No. No. _

"You must provide a reason officer." Emily asks the police man, alarmingly fast and angry, almost spitting it at him.

Lt. Tanner answers for the man, "Tampering with evidence is just one reason, the murder of Shana Fring is another, Aria." Aria seems like she just saw someone die in front of her; which I know she did in her mind. Her expression shows she lost; checkmated.

I get around the police officer and wrap arms around Emily. "What's happening?" I ask quickly.

She hugs me tightly back. "I… I don't know. I love you." The police man takes her arms from around me and puts them behind her back.

"We'll figure this out. I'll get you out." My mouth speaks as I don't even know what I'm saying, seeing Emily's defeated, devastated face. The worse thing is - she looks guilty; she looks like she's accepting this. Emily steps forward and kisses me as hard as possible. "I love you." I tell, starting to feel my eyes swelling up, making sure I kiss her once more. Emily now has tears rushing down her face and is shaking her head. Now she looks equally as broken as Alison did.

As the police officer gets out more hand cuffs, "You heard me right? I'm going to get you out." I nod trying to reassure her.

She stands there not knowing what to say so I cup her face and kiss her again. "I'll call you as soon as I can." She says.

The officer grabs her shoulders after putting handcuffs on Aria, and another officer helps lead them out. Emily looks back at me forcing a loving look and I don't dare follow them; as I can't stand to see her being taken away from me any longer.

…

**!**

**?**

**Kind of a crazy chapter?**

**And I also think it's insane they got arrested.**

**And I'm also mad they didn't show the reasons why they were arrested – because meh, they should have showed us… :P Though I think I guessed right.**

**I LOVED your responses from the last chapter, thank you, thank you, thank you. And I liked this question so I'll ask it again. **

**Favorite sentence or moment?**

**Anyway, as I said I'll make sure I'll update and let you guys know if I'll be posting while I'm away (which will be a month or so.) **

**Stay Strong, Spread Strength.**


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